Delta State High Court in Effurun has slammed Linda Ikeji with N30 million in general damages over a defamatory publication against Africa’s Neo-Black Movement (NBM).

According to reports on Monday, the presiding judge, Justice Roli Daibo-Harriman, also awarded N300,000 in litigation costs against the Nigerian blogger.

The court also ordered Linda Ikeji to retract the defamatory publication in question from her blog.

Furthermore, Linda Ikeji, a Defendant in the EHC/210/2021 litigation, was directed not to make any further detrimental publications against the Claimants or members of the NBM of Africa.

Linda Ikeji, Nigerian blogger and entrepreneur

The claimants in the action were the Registered Trustees of NBM of Africa, Ese Kakor, Felix Kupa, and Mayor Onyebueke.

The NBM of Africa and three others took Ikeji to court after she refused to honor the demand letter of retraction and apology for the libelous material published on her blog on October 19, 2021.

In her publication on October 19, 2021, the blogger allegedly referred to NBM of Africa as a terrible cult group, black axe, criminal organization, and other titles.

“This will serve as a lesson to bloggers that it is not every item you publish. It is good to verify information before making a publication.

“NBM of Africa is a legal organization duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

“The publication made by the defendant against my client has been cleared that it was a damaging publication.

“NBM is good to go, we are going to take all necessary steps to enforce the terms of the judgment against her.

“It was an erudite judgment that is all-encompassing and will be difficult to fault,” Agbroko said.