The federal high court in Lagos has revoked the bail granted to Ayotunde Richards, a former member of the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFM), over alleged contempt.
Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, the presiding judge, also ordered the arrest of Funke Ashekun, a blogger, over an alleged libellous publication.
The Case
In 2024, Richards and Adewale Ajimisogbe, a blogger, were arraigned before the court on charges of conspiracy, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and defamation of Daniel Olukoya, MFM’s general overseer.
They were jointly arraigned on three counts by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which also charged Ajimisogbe with an additional nine counts of libel.
Nosa Uhumwangho, the police prosecutor, had informed the court that the alleged offences occurred between December 2023 and February 2024.
Initially, the defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges. However, Ajimisogbe later pleaded guilty to the charges and entered a plea bargain with the prosecution.
In the plea bargain document, Ajimisogbe agreed to retract the publication against Olukoya, publish an apology letter, and pay a fine of N50,000.
The Court Hearing
At the resumption of hearing, Uhumwangho told the court that Ashekun published a libellous publication on social media against the nominal complainant and the judge.
The police prosecutor said Ashekun tagged Richards in the social media post.
He added that in the post, Ashekun alleged that the judge expressed disappointment over the lawsuit and wondered why the MFM pastor could not use his spiritual power to resolve the issue.
Ademola Adewale, the defendant’s lawyer, said his client should not be held liable for the publication.
In the ruling, the judge held that the defendant admitted that Ashekun’s social media post did not reflect what actually happened in court and that the blogger had tagged him in it.
The judge revoked the defendant’s bail until Ashekun is arrested and brought before the court or she removes the offensive post and apologises.
The case was adjourned to 29 April for further proceedings.
