Lagos Court Awards Adunni Ade N20 Million Over False Romance Report

Actress Adunni Ade has won a landmark privacy case, with a Lagos High Court awarding her N20 million in damages after an online publication falsely linked her to a romantic relationship with Senator Dino Melaye.

The lawsuit, filed under case number LD/17781MFHR/2024, targeted 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.” Adunni claimed the article portrayed her in a misleading and offensive manner, constituting a “false light” invasion of privacy.

In her statement, Adunni said the publication caused her significant emotional and psychological distress and violated her constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of the Nigerian Constitution. She also cited breaches of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, due to the unauthorized use of her name and image.

The defendants argued that her photos were publicly available on Instagram and that the lawsuit was filed a year after the article was published.

However, Justice Ibironke Harrison ruled in Adunni’s favor, stating that she did not need to provide her data directly to the defendants for her claim to be valid. The court ordered the respondents to remove all mentions of her name and images from the publication in addition to the N20 million damages.

Legal experts hailed the decision as a significant development in Nigerian privacy law, formally recognizing “false light” as a distinct violation.

Adunni Ade, a German-American and Nigerian actress and single mother of two sons, has previously threatened legal action against other blogs for false reports about her personal life, emphasizing her right to protect her reputation.