*Faults Blogger For Not Deleting The Disparaging Comment Immediately, When She Has Power To Do

A high court sitting in Lagos has ordered the publisher of ladunladi.blogspot.com, to pay the sum of ten million Naira(N10m), as damages to the CEO, Anabel Group, Nicholas Okoye, over defamatory publications.

Justice A. A .Akintoye, delivering her judgment in SUIT NO: LD/170/2012, stated that the Ladun Ladi, started the chain Od event on her blog which led to Okoye being abused and ridiculed by members of the public who read the story.

The court faulted her for not deleting the disparaging comment immediately, when she has the power to do.

The court therefore found the publication and transmission of the libel story contained in page 1-24 of Friday 6th to 12th April, 2012, as defamatory to Okoye.

The court agreed with the 2nd and 3rd Defendants that they would not have known that the publication was defamatory, given by the large volume of words and the speed with which they were posted.

“Therefore, it became humanly impossible for the Defendant to detect and prevent publications that have reformatory contents.

“A close perusal of the evidence presented before the court shows that the 2nd Defendant was not the author, editor or publisher of the defamatory post.

“The 2nd Defendant could only have become aware of the alleged defamatory post when it received the claimant’s written complaint , after the 1st Defendant had deleted the post.

“The 2nd Defendant lack of knowledge of the post was not due to negligence on its part.

“I hereby grant perpetual injunction restraining the 1st Defendant Ladun Liadi whether by herself, her servant, agents and/or privies or otherwise from publishing and/or further publishing and/or causing to be published the same or similar words defamatory to the claimant in any medium and/or from whosoever.

“Cost is awarded in the sum of N1,000,000, for legal representation inclusive of cost of action in favor of the claimant. No award of cost is made for the 2nd & 3rd Defendants.

A commentator had made a derogatory comment to a post Ladun Ladi, published on the 6th April, 2012, via her blog, Ladunladi.blogspot.com, titled: “What happened to Anabel Mobile”.

The commentator made the following disparaging remarks against the claimant:

“That the claimant pays runs girls N150,000, for sex as well as keeping 2 names mistresses (Anita and Liman Unachukwu). That the claimant is a dog’ who keeps mistresses and has special runs girls. That the claimant’s wife is gbenshing outside with tall fair girls,” and some more derogatory words.

Other Defendants in the suit are, Google Inc and Google Nigeria.

Follow Our WhatsApp Channel ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials

“Evidence Act: Complete Annotation” by renowned legal experts Sanni & Etti.

Available now for NGN 40,000 at ASC Publications, 10, Boyle Street, Onikan, Lagos. Beside High Court, TBS. Email publications@ayindesanni.com or WhatsApp +2347056667384. Purchase Link: https://paystack.com/buy/evidence-act-complete-annotation

______________________________________________________________________ “Enhance Legal Practice With Authoritative Reports” — Alexander Payne Offers Comprehensive Law Reports, Spanning Over A Century Of Nigerian Jurisprudence

Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via: 0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888 Website: www.alexandernigeria.com

______________________________________________________________________