Lagos State High Court has awarded N5 million damages against a singer, Ikuforijimi Olaitan Abdulrahman, popularly known as Oxlade, over a leaked sex tape with a woman identified as John Blessing on Snapchat.
While delivering judgement on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, justice Olalekan Oresanya, described the action of the singer in secretly recording the explicit sex and leaking the tape online as “despicable, horrendous, distasteful and classless.”
It would be recall that Oxlade sex tape went viral online on February 9, 2022, without the women’s content, as the singer later apologised to his fans.
Blessing had, in March 2022, filed a suit before the Court seeking N20million damages and a declaration that the singer’s act of recording his explicit sexual acts without her knowledge amounted to flagrant contravention of enabling laws, violation of her fundamental rights to dignity, privacy and freedom from discrimination guaranteed under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); and Articles 5 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement), Act, CAP A9, LFN, 2004.
Justice Oresanya lambasted the singer. “The action and attitude of the respondent (Oxlade), who is said to be a celebrity, is despicable, horrendous, distasteful and classless. The respondent is admonished strongly to act with utmost circumspection in his relationship with fellow humans, especially the opposite sex. What goes around comes around. I need not say more,” the judge said.
The judge thereafter entered the terms of settlement dated January 11, 2023, as the judgment of the court.
“By the consent judgement, Oxlade is to pay damages to the tune of N5m to the claimant in two instalments of N2m and N3m respectively,” Oresanya added.
