A Federal High Court in Abuja has moved the defamation case filed by actress Judy Austin against her ex-husband, Emmanuel Obasi, and her colleague, Rita Edochie, to 24 November.
Earlier reports stated that Austin sued Obasi and Edochie separately. She is asking for N1 billion in damages from each of them.
In the suits filed by her lawyer, Anozie Obi of Rubicom Legal Partners, Austin wants the court to order both defendants to publish full apologies in two national newspapers and on their social media pages.
She also wants a permanent order stopping Edochie, Obasi, and their agents from spreading any defamatory statements about her.
The defendants confirmed they received the writ of summons and hearing notice but did not publish any apologies before the case started on 29 September.
Court proceeding
Footage obtained by this newspaper showed Edochie and Austin arriving separately at the court for the hearing on the same day.
Obasi also shared the news on his Facebook page. He said his lawyers informed him that the other party’s legal representatives received his application challenging the court's authority.
He mentioned that the proceedings went smoothly but he will continue to follow his lawyers’ advice to let the case follow legal procedures.
"My lawyers have informed me that the lawyers representing the other party have been served with my application challenging the jurisdiction of the court. I have shared the front page of the application. My lawyers are also preparing the other documents that will be filed in the case and have assured me that we are still well within the time allowed to file them.
"Today’s proceedings went well. The case has now been adjourned to 24 November 2026. For now, I will continue to follow the advice of my lawyers and allow the legal process to take its course," Obasi said.
Post Hearing
After the hearing, Edochie spoke to journalists. She claimed that Austin filed the suit to silence her and stop her from preaching about morality on Instagram.
Edochie insisted that her posts were not just aimed at Austin, but also meant to educate women about the risks of taking another woman’s husband.
She said, "She doesn’t have the strength to stress me; rather, I’m the one stressing her. Mainly, I talk on morals. I educate the people. If you’re a husband snatcher, I tell you the reason you’re not supposed to snatch somebody’s husband because we have a lot of guys out there. You’re not supposed to take another woman’s husband.
"At the end of the day, we’ll know who will cry. She will cry. She sued me for N1 billion. N1 billion that she has never seen. Has she seen N1 billion? For talking about her. That means she believes that what I’m saying on my page is that she’s the one. That that is what she does. If it is not what she does, why would she now sue me that I defamed her?"
Edochie added that she wrote all the content on her social media pages for educational reasons.
"Everything on my pages, I wrote them with my full chest. They are all for educational purposes. I have a right to educate people."
Backstory
This legal battle is part of a long-standing public feud between the parties.
Obasi has accused Edochie of cheating with actor Yul Edochie while they were married and of blocking him from seeing their children, among other claims.
Edochie has denied these allegations.
Reports say she maintains that her marriage to Obasi ended in 2013 and that she never had an intimate relationship with Yul Edochie while still married to Obasi.
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