Court adjourns Judy Austin defamation suits to November 24

A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until November 24 a defamation case filed by actress Judy Austin against her former husband, Emmanuel Obasi, and fellow actress Rita Edochie. Austin filed separate suits seeking N1bn in damages from each defendant. She also asked the court to order full and unreserved retractions and apologies in two national newspapers and on social media platforms.

Her claims include a request for a permanent injunction preventing Edochie, Obasi, their agents and privies from publishing or circulating statements that she considers defamatory. The defendants acknowledged receiving the writ of summons and hearing notice but had not published retractions or apologies before the case began on September 29, according to the supplied report. Obasi said in a Facebook post that his lawyers had informed him that Austin’s legal representatives received his application challenging the court’s jurisdiction.

He said the case had proceeded well and that he would continue following his lawyers’ advice. Edochie, speaking to journalists after the hearing, alleged that Austin brought the suit to silence her and prevent her from discussing morality on Instagram. Edochie said her posts were intended to educate women and were not directed solely at Austin.

The legal dispute is connected to a public feud involving the parties. The report says Obasi has repeatedly accused Edochie of having an affair with actor Yul Edochie during her marriage to Obasi and of preventing him from seeing their children. Edochie has denied those allegations.

The report also says Edochie maintains that her marriage to Obasi ended in 2013 and that she had no intimate relationship with Yul Edochie while still married to Obasi. The court has not yet determined the claims, and the matter is next scheduled for November 24, 2026.