The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned to May 10 the hearing of arguments on the preliminary objection filed by the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Alhassan, to a libel lawsuit filed against her in connection with the Chibok school girls.

The suit was lodged by a US-based international human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe regarding the Chibok girls he sponsored to school abroad. The third anniversary of the Chibok abductions comes up two days later on April 14, 2017.

The suit against the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agents has the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, as the first defendant. While Malami was not present in court or represented by counsel when the case came up for mention on March 21, Alhassan was represented by her counsel, who served the litigant with a preliminary objection in which the Minister is claiming that under the Public Officers’ Protection Act, any challenge to her action must be done within three months. According to her, the lawsuit is statute barred the case having been filed outside that time frame.

The court, presided over by Honourable Justice A.B. Mohammed, had adjourned to April 12 for a hearing of arguments on the preliminary objection but further adjourned to May 10 when the case came up yesterday.

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