A Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered Nollywood actress, Halimah Abubakar, to pay N10m as damages to the Senior Pastor and General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, for publishing libelous statements against him.
The court also restrained her from further publishing defamatory statements against the cleric.
According to the Certified True Copy of the judgment dated April 8, 2024, the cleric accused Abubakar of publishing libellous statements on her Instagram page @halimabubakar, which was published by several blogs and newspapers.
The cleric specifically said Abubakar accused him of being a womaniser and diabolical, among others.
In his judgement, Justice Enobie Obanor noted that Abubakar was allowed to defend herself in the matter but failed to do so.
The judgement partly reads: “The statements published by the defendant against the claimant on her Instagram handle, @halimabubakar, falsely and maliciously written and published to the general public, are defamatory of the person of the claimant.
“The sum of N10,000,000 only to the claimant as aggravated and exemplary damages for libel contained in the publication of the defendant against the claimant on her Instagram handle, @Halimabubakar and caused to be published in several blogs.”