EXTRA: Yahaya Bello calms supporters as judge stages walkout over rowdiness

Maryann Anenih, judge of the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, left the courtroom abruptly after a horde of Yahaya Bello’s supporters besieged the facility. 

On November 27, the former governor of Kogi was arraigned on a 19-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering.

Bello has pleaded not guilty to a raft of the charges.

Before proceedings began, a crowd had stormed the court — most of them Bello’s supporters.

Security operatives had a hard time controlling the crowd. Many journalists were locked out of the courtroom as tempers flared.

Anenih, who walked in to take the plea of the former governor and his co-defendants, rose abruptly and made for the exit. She announced that she was not going to return until sanity was restored.

Shortly after the judge left the courtroom, Bello stood up and moved to the surging crowd.

Like the conductor of an orchestra with outstretched arms and gesticulations to boot, Bello directed his followers and sympathisers to vacate their seats and exit the courtroom.

It worked.

As he bellowed, his followers left the courtroom one after the other.

To ensure that sanity was maintained, a smiling Bello sat at the entrance and ensured that none of his followers disobeyed the order of the court by making a return.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) finally got hold of Bello on November 26 after declaring him wanted in April.