An Ikeja High Court in Lagos State has fined N5 million in damages to a Nigerian singer, Ikuforijimi Olaitan Abdulrahman, professionally known as Oxlade, in connection with a leaked sex tape with a woman identified as John Blessing on social media.
In a ruling issued on January 24, 2023, Justice Olalekan Oresanya called the musician’s secret recording of having sex with a woman “despicable, horrendous, classless, and distasteful.”
Oxlade’s sex video was posted on social media without the woman’s permission.
The leaked tape sparked outrage and compelled Oxlade to apologize publicly to the woman involved as well as his fans.
Blessing filed a suit in court in March 2022, seeking N20 million in damages and a declaration that the singer’s act of recording his explicit sexual acts without her knowledge constituted a flagrant violation of enabling laws, a 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 (Ratif).
Justice Oresanya also chastised the singer for disrespecting the legal system and accused his counsel of assisting him in desecrating the temple of justice.
The judge who entered the Terms of Settlement on January 11, 2023, ordered Oxlade to pay N5 million in damages to Blessing in two installments of N3 million and N2 million, respectively.
