JOS – Hearing into the case of defamation, filed against a Jos, Plateau State-based journalist, Masara Kim, by the Director- General of the Plateau State PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Prof. Dimis Mailafiya now starts October 6, 2019.
This followed an unannounced recess embarked upon by the Plateau State High Court, beginning Wednesday.
The case had been fixed for first hearing on Wednesday, by 9am at the High Court 4, Jos, Plateau State.
Kim and his attorneys from Komak Law Company appeared at the court alongside counsel to the plaintiff at the given time to find the new development.
Other cases fixed for the same day were equally rescheduled to different dates.
Kim was dragged to court in January 2019, over a news report he published on his news blog, www.masarakimsblog.com in October 2018, wherein the Senator Jeremiah Useni campaign DG was accused of collecting bribe to back a supposedly unpopular running mate for his boss.
A statement of defence and motion seeking to strike out the case was filed in May 2019, by his solicitors, in follow-up to a memorandum of appearance was filed in January 2019.
He was issued a notice of intention to go to court in November 2018 by Prof. Mailafiya’s counsel, M.Y Saleh (SAN) & Co law firm.
At the expiration of the grace period within which the said defamatory news story was expected to be retracted, Kim was served a writ of summons in January 2019.
The University of Jos Professor of Economics is demanding a N50,000,000.00 relief for the offense, a retraction and an order restraining the Publisher of www.mkreporters.media from publishing any further ‘defamatory’ story against him.
Kim is however contending that the news report in question is not assertive and was published with no ill-will after offering a chance for defence which was not exploited by the complainant.
