The General Overseer of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, has warned a United Kingdom-based campaigner, Maureen Badejo, to stop making what he described as defamatory claims against him or face fresh legal action for contempt of court.
Badejo is the founder of the GATE (Guardians Against False Teachings) Initiative.
The warning followed allegations that the activist had resumed publishing claims against Olukoya despite a subsisting judgment and injunction reportedly granted in his favour by a UK court in 2021.
Court documents indicated that Olukoya and his wife, Folashade, filed a defamation suit against Badejo in October 2020 over allegations bordering on dishonesty and sexual misconduct.
Badejo was said to have defended the claims on the basis that they were true.
However, in April 2021, a UK High Court struck out her defence, ruling that it disclosed no reasonable grounds and amounted to an abuse of court process.
The court subsequently entered summary judgment in favour of the cleric and his wife and granted an injunction restraining Badejo from repeating or republishing the allegations.
She was also reportedly directed to publish a summary of the judgment on her social media platforms.
In October 2021, the court assessed damages and ordered Badejo to pay £65,000 to Olukoya and £35,000 to his wife as compensation.
But in a statement issued by Olukoya’s legal representatives, Badejo was accused of repeating the same allegations in recent weeks, an action the lawyers described as a violation of the court order.
The legal team said the activist had been formally warned that any further repetition of the claims would lead to contempt proceedings.
The statement added that contempt of court attracts criminal sanctions, including fines and possible imprisonment, stressing that the matter had moved beyond reputational issues to enforcement of the rule of law.
Olukoya, however, was quoted as saying he remained open to an amicable resolution, but insisted that the judgment of the High Court must be obeyed.