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The woman who dragged singer Ikuforijimi Olaitan Abdulrahman, aka Oxlade to court docket over their leaked intercourse tape, has been awarded N5m as damages by Justice Olalekan Oresanya of an Ikeja Excessive Court docket.
The woman, John Blessing had filed a lawsuit in opposition to the singer on March 15, 2022, searching for N20million damages and a declaration that the respondent’s (Oxlade) act of recording his express sexual acts with out her information and consent amounted to flagrant contravention of enabling legal guidelines and a gross violation of her basic rights to dignity, privateness and freedom from discrimination assured below Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Structure (as amended); and Articles 5 of the African Constitution on Human and Folks?s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement), Act, CAP A9, LFN, 2004.
Delivering judgement on the case, Justice Oresanya mentioned the singer secretly recording himself having intercourse with John Blessing earlier than it was leaked on-line was ?despicable, horrendous, distasteful and classless.?
Asides from cautioning the singer in opposition to such act sooner or later, the Choose additionally berated Oxlade for treating the judicial course of with disrespect and accused his lawyer of aiding him to desecrate the temple of justice.
The Choose mentioned;
?The motion and angle of the Respondent (Oxlade), who is alleged to be a celeb, is despicable, horrendous, distasteful and classless. The Respondent is admonished strongly to behave with utmost circumspection in his relationship with fellow people, particularly the alternative intercourse. ?what goes round comes round?. I needn’t say extra.
?The angle of the respondent in the direction of the continuing leaves a lot to be desired. The Respondent failed to look on this court docket and the one cause given for the respondent?s absence by his former counsel was the superstar standing of the respondent which to my thoughts can’t be equated to that of many notable superstar artistes on this nation who’ve comported themselves effectively respectably each inside and out of doors of this nation.
?Counsel, as ministers within the temple of justice, ought to by no means encourage any occasion to a legislation swimsuit or consumer in treating the temple of justice with disrespect and disdain regardless of the standing of the consumer within the society.
?Consumer comes and consumer goes, the authorized career and establishment stays. Additionally it is disturbing to notice as a part of the tardiness of the respondent and his counsel that this phrases of settlement was filed after the Honourable Court docket had concluded the listening to of the matter and on the verge of delivering its Judgment on the benefit fastened for January 16, 2023.?
In keeping with the decide, the court docket would have awarded exemplary and aggravated damages far higher than the agreed settlement sum of N5 million in opposition to the respondent for the alleged ?merciless violation of the privateness of the claimant by way of the web/web publication of an express intercourse tape involving the claimant and the respondent on ninth February, 2022.?
The decide who entered the Phrases of Settlement dated January 11, 2023 because the judgment of the court docket, ordered Oxlade to pay the N5million damages awarded in opposition to him to the claimant in two instalments of N2million and N3million respectively.
Justice Oresanya additionally issued an order of perpetual injunction in opposition to the claimant from initiating any additional authorized course of or any course of in respect of the info and issues giving rise to the swimsuit, and from instituting or discussing the problems constituted within the declare on any platform, and earlier than any third occasion.
Events within the lawsuit, their privies, assigns, brokers, successors, authorized counsel, and private representatives have been additionally directed to take care of confidentiality of all private info and supplies pertaining to the swimsuit, and the Phrases of Settlement.
Failure of both occasion to stick to the phrases shall entitle the affected occasion to damages for such breach, together with any and all accidents incurred on account of such disclosure.
