UK Court Upholds £100,000 Defamation Judgment Against Nigerian Blogger
A United Kingdom High Court of Appeal has rejected the appeal of Nigerian blogger Maureen Badejo and ordered her to pay £100,000 in damages to Pastor Daniel Olukoya, founder of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), and his wife, Folashade. The decision confirms earlier rulings against her in a defamation case.
In April 2021, the Queen’s Bench Division of the UK High Court of Justice ruled that Ms. Badejo must pay £65,000 to Pastor Olukoya and £35,000 to his wife. The judgment was over the defamatory statements she published online.
The court also instructed Ms. Badejo to publicly retract the false claims and post a summary of the judgment on her social media accounts for 10 consecutive days. This was meant to inform her audience about the court’s decision and correct the record.
Ms. Badejo is a UK-based blogger and runs Gio TV. She had used her social media channels, including Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, to make serious accusations against Pastor Olukoya and MFM. Among her claims was that the pastor and his church dodged tax in the United States by selling books without paying the required taxes. She also alleged that an MFM pastor in the UK paid £150,000 into Pastor Olukoya’s personal account, claiming it was to help cover up financial fraud.
In the appeal judgment, Justice Lavender of the UK High Court of Appeal upheld the earlier decisions in the case marked QB-2020-003625. He agreed with earlier orders made by Master Thormett and dismissed Ms. Badejo’s appeal, saying her arguments had no legal merit. The judge also refused her request for permission to appeal again, explaining that her application did not meet the legal threshold required for reconsideration.
The court stressed that individuals have a legal right to protect their reputations from false and damaging statements. It stated clearly that freedom of expression does not include publishing false allegations that harm others’ reputations.
Earlier, on February 9, 2021, an Ogun State High Court in Nigeria also ruled against Ms. Badejo. That court ordered her to pay N500 million to MFM and Pastor Olukoya for defamatory publications she made online. Ms. Badejo was directed to remove her offending posts from the internet and publish written apologies and retractions on social media and in at least three national newspapers. The judge described her conduct as “reckless defamation” and a harmful use of the internet and social platforms.
