The High Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State, has delivered its judgment in a N10Billion libel claim against UK-based Blogger, Maureen Badejo.
The Incorporated Trustees of Mountain of Fire & Miracles Ministries and its General Overseer, Dr. D. K. Olukoya, as the 1st and 2nd claimants respectively commenced the case on September 7, 2020, to claim sundry relief against Maureen Badejo, for continuous and sustained libel published by her through free-to-air broadcasts in the social media, particularly Facebook, You-Tube and Instagram.
In his judgment delivered on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, the trial Judge, the Hon. Justice Abiodun A. Akinyemi, while describing Maureen Badejo’s campaign against the claimants as “the worst case of reckless defamation and evil use of the internet and social media,” awarded the sum of N250million to each of the claimants (making a total of N500 million) as aggravated and exemplary damages for libel.
The court also ordered the defendant (Maureen) to immediately pull down and erase each of the offending online publications/posts concerning the claimants from the internet.