April 29, (THEWILL) – A high court in Effurun, Delta State, has ordered blogger, Linda Ikeji, to pay N30,000,000 as general damages to the Neo Black Movement (NBM) of Africa over a libellous publication.
On October 19, 2021, Linda, in a publication on her self named blog, allegedly referred to NBM of Africa as a “dreaded cult group, black axe, and criminal organisation”.
NBM and three others slammed a N1 billion lawsuit against the blogger over alleged defamation and libel.
The registered trustees of NBM of Africa listed as claimants in the lawsuit include Ese Kakor, Felix Kupa and Mayor Onyebueke.
Roli Daibo-Harriman, the presiding judge, also awarded the sum of N300,000 for the cost of litigation against the blogger on Monday.
The court ordered Ikeji to place a publication in her blog and national dailies retracting the libelous publication.
Ikeji was also ordered to restrain from further damaging publications against the claimants and members of the NBM of Africa.
The blogger was said to have been absent in court and neither was she represented.
Speaking after the court proceedings, Kelvin Agbroko, lead counsel to the claimants, said it was a well-deserved judgement.
Agbroko said the case would serve as a “lesson to bloggers to verify the information before making a publication.
“NBM of Africa is a legal organisation duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC),” he said.
“The publication made by the defendant against my client has been cleared as a damaging publication. NBM is good to go, we are going to take all necessary steps to enforce the terms of the judgement against her. It was an erudite judgement that is all encompassing and will be difficult to fault.”
Reacting to the judgement, Ese Kakor, president of NBM of Africa, said the case had been ongoing for about two years.
“What Ikeji did was just to sell in a bid to defame the character of NBM of Africa, it is very wrong.
“I advise other bloggers not to follow the same steps as they may also face similar litigation. Do not try and defame people’s character. NBM has nothing to do with cultism, black axe. It is not a criminal organisation but a registered organisation.”
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
