BREAKING: UK-Based Blogger Maureen Badejo Arrested In Lagos Following Petitions By Clerics Olukoya And Apostle Suleman

SaharaReporters gathered that Badejo was arrested in Lagos on Friday by detectives attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

A UK-based Nigerian blogger, Maureen Badejo, has been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force following petitions reportedly filed against her by senior Christian clerics.

SaharaReporters gathered that Badejo was arrested in Lagos on Friday by detectives attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Sources told SaharaReporters that she is currently being interrogated at the police Cybercrime Unit in Adekunle, Yaba area of the state.

According to information obtained by SaharaReporters, Badejo’s arrest followed petitions submitted to the police by the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, and the General Overseer of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr Daniel Olukoya.

While details of the allegations contained in the petitions remain unclear as of the time of filing this report, sources said the matter is connected to online publications and social media activities allegedly linked to the blogger.

As of Friday evening, the police had yet to issue an official statement clarifying the allegations against Badejo or the legal basis for her continued detention.

Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin for comments were unsuccessful.

In August 2023, SaharaReporters reported that Badejo had rejected Apostle Suleman’s offer to pay £500 per month toward the judgment sum of £19,601, which had been awarded against him by the Queen’s Bench Division of the UK High Court of Justice.

In March 2022, the Queen’s Bench Division of the UK High Court of Justice ordered Suleman to pay £19,601 as part of sanctions in a defamation suit he had filed against Badejo.

Maureen Badejo was subsequently summoned to appear before the court over allegations of defaming the Nigerian cleric.

SaharaReporters also reported how Nigerians in the diaspora raised legal fees to help Badejo defend herself in the case. The host of GIOTV had appealed to her viewers, fans, and supporters for financial assistance to cover the legal costs.

In a ruling obtained by SaharaReporters, UK Judge His Honour Judge Lewis, under Claim No. QB-2022-000504 dated 10 March 2022, dismissed Suleman’s application. The court ordered him to pay Badejo the sum of £19,601.

In December 2023, SaharaReporters reported that a former MFM Pastor, Sunday Bawura Olowoyeye, had filed a N1 billion suit against the General Overseer of the church, Olukoya, over alleged illegal and oppressive detention.

Olowoyeye also raised the alarm over an alleged threat to his life by Olukoya.

He said he joined MFM in 1993 and became a pastor of the church in 1995. According to him, he was posted to different states to serve till 2021 when he left the church due to the way they “neglected him and his family when his wife was critically ill”.

In a court document obtained by SaharaReporters, the cleric stated that he was arrested and detained for 16 days at the Federal Criminal Investigation Department in Alagbon, Lagos, allegedly on the orders of Pastor Olukoya, after he shared his frustrations and grievances with blogger Badejo, who publicised his plight.

Badejo has interviewed several individuals who levelled serious allegations against both clerics, none of which were publicly defended.