A United States court in Baltimore County, in the state of Maryland, has ordered a Nigerian blogger to pay $50,000 in damages for defaming the General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr. Daniel Olukoya.
The lawsuit stemmed from a video posted on the blogger’s YouTube channel on November 28, 2023, containing defamatory statements about Olukoya, a professor of biotechnology. Three MFM pastors based in the US filed the suit against the blogger, who recently relocated to America.
Presiding judge Theresa Adams delivered a unified verdict in favor of MFM USA and the pastors, Grace Ugeh, Kunle Ladipo, and Adekunle Adekola (Case Number: C-03-CV-22-004424).
Reacting to the verdict, Davidson Adejuwon, MFM’s global chief legal adviser, interpreted the judgment as a divine confirmation of God’s word regarding the church’s resilience.
He asserted that MFM is not just a church but a divinely ordained Apostolic Revival movement entrusted to Olukoya, a “prepared prophet and servant of God.”
“There is certainly no way you deliberately and devilishly collide with such and not be grounded,” Adejuwon declared, emphasizing the consequences of harming such a divinely ordained entity.
He further urged the public and media to exercise due diligence before publishing or disseminating information, especially concerning religious matters.
“I implore the public and our media to always do proper checks against any form of falsehoods before publishing their stories or sharing lies and falsehood against the church of Christ and men and women of God,” Adejuwon stated.
“Proper due diligence is crucial before going public with lies against reputable institutions and personalities. We will not tolerate such unacceptable trends in our society.”
MFM had previously accused the blogger of spreading false and erroneous statements about the church and its leader on social media, damaging their image and reputation.
