A United Kingdom court has ruled 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.
The judgment was delivered by the UK High Court of Appeal, Queen’s Bench Division, presided over by Justice Lavender, who affirmed earlier rulings against 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 Badejo’s appeal.
The court held that online publications made by Badejo concerning Pastor Olukoya and his wife were false and defamatory, stating that the claims had no factual basis.
In the ruling, Badejo was ordered to pay £65,000 in damages to Olukoya and £35,000 to his wife.
The court also directed her to publicly retract the defamatory statements and publish a summary of the judgment on her social media platforms.
Justice Lavender refused 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 capable of damaging reputations.
