US-based Nigerian blogger Funke Ashekun to pay $50,000 for defaming MFM
In a recent legal proceeding at the Baltimore County Circuit Court in the United States, Judge Theresa Adams imposed a $50,000 damages penalty on Funke Ashekun, a US-based Nigerian blogger.
The judgment came as a result of a defamation case filed by Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) and its General Overseer, Dr. Daniel Olukoya.
Media aide to Dr. Olukoya, Collins Edomaruse, released a statement indicating that the court found Ashekun guilty of defaming MFM and its pastors through her online posts.
The damages, totaling $50,000, have been ordered to be paid by Ashekun as compensation for the harm caused.
The court, with Case Number: C-03-CV-22-004424, delivered a unanimous verdict in favour of Mountain of Fire USA and its three pastors, Grace Ugeh, Kunle Ladipo, and Adekunle Adekola.
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The judgment highlights the serious consequences of defamation and the importance of truthful and respectful communication in the public sphere.
According to Edomaruse, “Ashekun is a Nigerian lady, who recently relocated to the United States. She has been on the social media, spreading all manners of falsehoods against the MFM Church and its General Overseer with the sole purpose of tarnishing and damaging the reputation of the respected Man of God and that of his ministry, MFM.
“Being deceived by this illusion that she can hide in the U.S. and successfully carry out the job of her paymasters to ridicule and tarnish the image of the MFM and its General Overseer, she refused to heed all Godly counsel for her to retrace her steps and refrain from her self-destructive mission.
“Thus, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (U.S) successfully prosecuted its claims against her which did not last for a year.”
“The case thus represents a victory for the MFM ministry, its local pastors and the General Overseer.”
The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry’s lead counsel, Gilbert Garcia, said that the ‘Church was gratified that the jury found in favour and vindicated our position.’
