A United Kingdom High Court of Appeal has upheld earlier rulings against blogger Maureen Badejo, ordering her to pay £100,000 in damages to the founder of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Daniel Olukoya and his wife, Folashade, after losing a defamation suit.
In April 2021, the Queen’s Bench Division of a UK high court of justice ordered Ms Badejo to pay the sum of £65,000 to the general overseer and £35,000 to his wife as damages over defamatory publications.
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The court also directed her to publicly retract the defamatory statements and publish a summary of the judgment on her social media platforms for a period of 10 consecutive days as a corrective measure and as a means of ensuring that her “misguided and misinformed audience” gets to know about the court’s decision.
Offence
Ms Badejo, a UK-based blogger and the proprietor of Gio TV, was accused of using her social media channels to blackmail Mr Olukoya and his church on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
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She had claimed that Mr Olukoya and his church duped the United States Government by selling his books in the country without paying due tax.
She also alleged that an MFM pastor in the UK paid £150,000 into the personal account of Mr Olukoya, and then went to Nigeria to meet the cleric so he could help him cover up his fraud.”
Appeal denied
Delivering the judgment, Justice Lavender, the UK High Court of Appeal, Queen’s Bench Division, affirmed earlier rulings against Ms Badejo in the case marked QB-2020-003625.
Justice Lavender upheld the orders made by Master Thormett on April 13, 2021 and February 3, 2022 and dismissed Ms Badejo’s appeal.
The court held that Ms Badejo’s online publications concerning Pastor Olukoya and his wife were false and defamatory, finding that the claims lacked factual basis.
Justice Lavender refused Ms Badejo permission to appeal, ruling that her application did not meet the required legal threshold.
He stated that the application lacked merit and that, under CPR 52.4(3), the decision could not be reconsidered at an oral hearing.
“Insofar as the defendant seeks permission to appeal against Master Thormett’s order of 3 February 2022, her proposed grounds of appeal are both hopeless and pointless,” the court held.
The court noted that individuals are entitled to protection against defamatory publications and that false accusations circulated online carry legal consequences.
It added that freedom of expression does not extend to the publication of false statements that could damage reputations.
Repeat offender
On February 9, 2021, an Ogun State High Court ordered Ms Badejo to pay N500 million to the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) and its General Overseer, Daniel Olukoya, for defamation.
In a suit filed before the court in September 2020, the claimants sought N10 billion compensation for aggravated and exemplary damages.
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While delivering the judgment, Abiodun Akinyemi ordered Ms Badejo, the proprietor of Gio TV, to remove and delete the offending online publications concerning the claimants from the internet.
The judge further ordered the blogger to tender a written apology and retraction of the offending publications prominently on social media and at least three national dailies.
He described her actions as “reckless defamation” and an “evil use of the internet and social media.”
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