Journalists covering the ongoing national conference may stay away from the proceedings of the conference following the detention of the Sun Editor, Mr. Iheanacho Nwosu, over a story that was published by Daily Sun yesterday concerning the exchange of blows between an operative of the Department of State Service (DSS) and a policeman at the venue.
Mr Nwosu who is one of the accredited journalists covering proceedings at the conference, was picked by DSS operatives at about 2pm yesterday. He was taken to their office within the National Judicial Institute (NJI), venue of the conference.
Mr Nwosu, who was detained for over 30 minutes, was eventually released after some journalists besieged the area where he was being detained.
Although his report could not be faulted, the operatives said they were embarrassed by the report after being queried by their superiors and the presidency over the ugly incidence which occurred on Tuesday.
Reacting to the development, one of the delegates, Niyi Akintola, who raised a point of order at the plenary, warned that in a democratic dispensation, it was wrong for security operatives to infringed on the rights of a journalist who was carrying out his responsibilities.
Akintola warned that the era of abuse of human rights must not be revisited. His submission was supported by other delegates who condemned the action of DSS operatives.
The deputy chairman of the conference, Professor Bolaji Adeyemi warned security agencies to respect the rights of people who are going about carrying out their duties. He however announced at the end of his comment that the journalist has been released even as he promised that the secretariat would find out went wrong.
