Justice Olalekan Oresanya of an Ikeja High Court has awarded N5million damages against singer Ikuforijimi Olaitan Abdulrahman, aka Oxlade over a leaked sex tape with a woman on social media app, Snapchat.
In the judgement trending online, Justice Oresanya described the action of the singer, in secretly recording an explicit sex with a woman and thereafter leaking it online as “despicable, horrendous, distasteful and classless.”
The sex tape of the singer had surfaced online in February 2022, without the knowledge and consent of the woman involved in the video.
The leaked video sparked public outrage, and forced Oxlade to tender an apology to his fans and to the woman in the video.
The woman, John Blessing, had filed a suit before the court on March 15, 2022 seeking N20million damages and a declaration that the respondent (Oxlade’s) act of recording his explicit sexual acts without her knowledge and consent amounted to flagrant contravention of enabling laws and a gross violation of her fundamental rights to dignity, privacy and freedom from discrimination.
After hearing counsel for the claimant the judge had set for judgment when parties agreed to opt for amicable resolution via a consent judgement.
Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Oresanya chastised the singer and cautioned him against such act in his relationship with the opposite sex in the future.
In the course of trial, the judge berated Oxlade for treating the judicial process with disrespect and accused his lawyer of aiding him to desecrate the temple of justice.
By the consent judgement, Oxlade is to pay the N5million damages awarded against him to the claimant in two instalments of N2million and N3million respectively.
The court judge gave an order of perpetual injunction against the claimant from initiating any further legal process or any process in respect of the facts and matters giving rise to the suit, and from instituting or discussing the issues constituted in the claim on any platform, and before any third party.
Justice Oresanya admonished parties, their privies, assigns, agents, successors, legal counsel, and personal representatives agree to maintain confidentiality of all non-public information and materials pertaining to the suit, and the Terms of Settlement.
He ordered that failure of either party to adhere to the terms shall entitle the affected party to damages for such breach, including any and all injuries incurred as a result of such disclosure.
