US Court Rejects Defamation Suit Against Arise TV Filed by Nigerian Religious Leader

US Court Tosses Nigerian Clergy's Defamation Suit Against Arise TV

Nigerian clergy's defamation lawsuit against Arise TV is dismissed by a US court

US court dismisses Nigerian pastor's defamation lawsuit against Arise TV, citing lack of jurisdiction. Court rules that mere online availability of news article in Maryland is not enough to establish jurisdiction.

Nigerian pastor Adetunmbi Adewami sued Nigerian broadcaster Arise TV in the US for defamation, and Arise TV successfully defended themselves against the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, June 25, the US District Court in Maryland rejected the complaint, citing the TV station's lack of jurisdiction.

Judge Peter Messite determined that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit based only on the news article's online availability in Maryland.

“Merely broadcasting a news article that became accessible on the internet in the state is not sufficient to show a defendant's own contacts with the state,” Massite ruled.

The chief pastor of Maryland, USA-based Christ Royal Assembly for All Nations International filed a lawsuit against Arise TV on April 20, 2023, via its parent organization, Arise Media Inc. (Nigeria).

In his lawsuit, he stated that on April 27, 2022, Arise TV broadcast and posted online a news story titled “Pastor charges N310k for heaven,” which he claimed caused him great mental anguish and substantial harm.

He said the newspaper unfairly claimed he charged congregants N310,000 for a guaranteed spot in paradise and wrongly utilized his picture.

The pastor said that thousands of individuals in Maryland were among the thousands of people who saw the program that was televised and disseminated globally online.

According to Adewami, the broadcast's widespread distribution seriously tarnished his standing as a pastor, cleric, and Christian missionary, resulting in the departure of members of his church.

He also claimed that he experienced extreme and significant emotional suffering in the state of Maryland as a result of this harm to his reputation.

He argued that the online publishing by Arise TV constituted common-law misappropriation of his image and likeness, deliberate and negligent infliction of mental distress, false light breach of privacy, and libel.

According to court records, Arise TV received notice of the complaint on May 9, 2023, and since Arise TV failed to provide a response by the deadline, proof of service was submitted to the court by June 15, 2023.parent business, Nigeria-based Arise Media Inc.

Adewami filed a plea for a default judgment against Arise TV on July 1, 2023. The court clerk issued a default order against Arise TV two months later, in September.

The court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction after evaluating the evidence and coming to the conclusion that no hearing was required.

The court declared, “As a result, the motion for default judgment is moot,” meaning that the motion was not relevant.

The court declared that any decision rendered against a party that it does not have personal jurisdiction over is null and invalid.

It concluded that since Arise TV is not incorporated in Maryland and has no particular connections to the state, it does not fall within its jurisdiction.

The court did not find any indication that Arise TV intended to target the Maryland audience with the news report about Adewami after examining the broadcast, which is available online.

“The mere fact that information is available on the internet is not sufficient to demonstrate targeting,” the judge ruled.

The plaintiff claimed to have sustained multiple injuries in Maryland as a result of reading the Adewami news article online, but the court determined that this was insufficient to establish specific persona jurisdiction.