A Lagos High Court at the Tafawa Balewa Square has ordered On Air Personality (OAP) Toke Makinwa to pay ex-lover and fitness entrepreneur Maje Ayida N1 million for defamation.
Recall that Maje had sued the media personality after asking her to stop the promotion and sale of her memoir titled, On Becoming, where she revealed all that happened in their 13-year relationship and how he got his girlfriend pregnant while married to her.
Maje stated that the book contained defamatory words, which was misleading and had subjected their him to public ridicule. Ayida in the lawsuit asked Makinwa, among other things, to withdraw the book from circulation, recall all copies distributed and hand them over to him for destruction.
The fitness expert had also demanded for N100m in damages in the lawsuit. He asked the court to donate damages awarded him to four charities which will be nominated by him.
Justice Ogunjobi of the Lagos State High Court at Tafawa Balewa Square who ruled on the case on Thursday November 12, stated that after careful consideration of the evidence before the court, it finds only the contents of page 54 line 11-16 and page 83, Line 1 of the 1st defendants’ book as Defamatory.
The Court thereafter granted damages of the sum of 500,000 Naira each to be paid by the 1st and 2nd defendants to any charity organization of the claimant’s choice. The court also granted an injunction preventing the defendants from producing copies of its book with the defamatory words in pages 54 and 83.
Toke Makinwa was also given 30 days from the day of the ruling, to delete and remove the defamatory words from unsold copies of the book in her custody.
