An investigative journalist and farmer in Akwa Ibom State, Ibanga Isine, has raised the alarm following his eviction from a courtroom before his case was called up.
Isine, who is the complainant in the case of Commissioner of Police v. Abdullahi Yusuf, was allegedly thrown out of the courtroom by police operatives attached to the court on the orders of the Magistrate, Godwin Edemekong.
The incident followed the alleged humiliation of other journalists who had come to cover the proceedings. The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state has since condemned the incident.
The Secretary of the Council, Nsikak Esenowo, in a statement, described the act as an assault on the principles of open justice, transparency and press freedom guaranteed under Sections 22 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He called on the Chief Judge, Ekaette Fabian Obot, to investigate the matter.
Shortly after the incident, Isine narrated how he had sought justice for months following repeated invasions of his farms by herders and their cattle, which allegedly destroyed crops worth millions of naira as well as the irrigation system on the farmland.
He said that, apart from the destruction of property, farm workers were also molested, adding that on one occasion, a herder allegedly pulled out a cutlass and chased him away after invading the farm.
He recalled his efforts to petition the Commissioner of Police, CP Baba Azare, and the Commissioner for Internal Security, seeking their intervention, but
