A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday restrained journalists from covering the bail proceedings of six defendants accused of plotting a coup against President Bola Tinubu’s government.

Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, reportedly ordered reporters to leave the courtroom shortly before the trial judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, took her seat.

The order was said to have come from the judge.

At the time of filing this report, the journalists complied and exited the courtroom.

This is coming after heightened public interest in the trial of the six defendants, who were arraigned last Wednesday by the FG over an alleged failed coup.

Those standing trial are Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, a retired major-general; Erasmus Victor, a retired navy captain; Ahmed Ibrahim, a police inspector; and Zekeri Umoru, an electrician at the Presidential Villa.

Others are Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani, Zaria-based Islamic clerics.