Court gavel
Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi, presided over by Justice Shishi, has fixed October 22, 2026, for the pre-trial of a case against Mr. Henry Ibya of Al-Jazirah Newspaper.
The court had adjourned the case during the previous sitting to allow the parties to file their processes for the necessary procedural purposes.
At the commencement of the pre-trial, not all the documents filed by Ibya’s defence counsel were reportedly available in the court’s custody. Consequently, Justice Shishi adjourned the matter until October 22, 2026, to enable the parties to regularise their filings for proper adjudication.
Answering questions from journalists after the court session on what a pre-trial conference entails for parties in the suit, one of the defence counsel to journalist Ibya, Alu O. A., Esq., clarified that the process allows the parties to “identify and narrow the issues in dispute and resolve non-contentious matters before the full commencement of the trial.”
This is one of several legal proceedings involving the Al-Jazirah Newspaper correspondent in Benue State.
All the cases stem from a petition filed by Terna Abuul, said to be the Director of ICT at Moses Adasu University, Makurdi (MOAUM), Benue State. The petition relates to an alleged report authored by journalist Ibya concerning the complainant.
Arising from the petition, the police filed criminal charges, including alleged cyberstalking, before the Chief Magistrate Court in Makurdi.
The latest ruling by the court clears the way for the parties to proceed to the pre-trial stage before the substantive hearing.
Mr. Ibya is currently facing proceedings in three different courts, where lawsuits arising from the same petition are pending for determination.
