Nollywood actress Adunni Ade has been awarded N20 million in damages by a Lagos High Court for a breach of privacy. This comes after an online platform published a report linking her to an alleged romantic relationship with Senator Dino Melaye.
Recall that the suit, marked LD/17781MFHR/2024, was filed against a news outlet and its reporter over a story published on January 18, 2023, titled “Six popular Nigerian actresses who have been accused of dating Dino Melaye.”
According to court documents, Adunni accused the publication of portraying her “in a misleading and offensive way that mischaracterises her life,” stressing that it was published “to generate web traffic and attract advertisements.”
Revealing that the false rumour caused her “emotional and psychological distress,” she claimed that it directly violated her constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of the Nigerian constitution.
Reacting, the blogger and publisher denied using the moviestar’s image for traffic, maintaining that Adunnie has “more than 1000 personal photos on her public Instagram profile.”
After hearing from both parties, Judge Ibironke Harrison ruled in Adunni’s favour, establishing that she did not need to have submitted her data directly to the defendants to have a valid cause of action.
The court immediately awarded N20M as general damages and ordered the respondents to delete and expunge her name and picture from the publication.
Describing “false light” as a distinct privacy violation, legal observers have tagged Adunni’s victory a landmark development in Nigerian privacy law.
