Nigeria, March 17 -- The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday condemned an attempt by a Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Mohammed Umar, to subject a lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, to a stress-position punishment during proceedings on Monday.

Mr Umar ordered Mr Abubakar to kneel during a tense exchange between them, but the directive was resisted by the lawyer and ultimately halted following the intervention of other counsel in the courtroom.

NBA issued a statement, signed by its president, Afam Osigwe, condemning the judge's conduct on Tuesday.

"A judex directing a legal practitioner or indeed any person whatsoever to kneel in court is not a recognised judicial sanction under our laws and does not align with the standards of judicia...