Akakan Umoh
The Baltimore County Court, Maryland, United States of America, has slammed $300,000 damages on Olufunke Ashekun for defaming the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) USA Incorporated and its founder, Dr Daniel Olukoya.
Recall that Ashekun and MFM have been in a legal battle following her posts and campaigns on social media, which the church considered defamatory and offensive.
A statement by the church on Sunday said the jury having found Ashekun guilty of “defamation and false light”, it was ruled that she pays the church compensatory damages in the sum of $250,000 and punitive damages in the sum of $50,000 to serve as a deterrent for unfounded allegations.
The court noted that the plaintiff proved its case beyond every reasonable doubt even as it regretted what it described as “weak, inadmissible evidence and witnesses” of the defendant.
It further noted that Ashekun’s campaign negatively affected the professional integrity of Mountain of Fire and the church’s reputation.
Parts of the statement read, “In a judgment handed down by the Circuit Court of Baltimore County Maryland on the 13” of March 2026 in the matter of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries USA, INC v Olufunke Ashekun, the plaintiff successfully prosecuted its claims of Defamation and False Light resulting in a binding Court order against Olufunke Ashekun for compensatory damages in the sum of $250,000 and punitive damages in the sum of $50,000.
“In granting the judgment and damages, the Court recognized the prolonged intense and malicious campaign conducted by Olufunke Ashekun against Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries USA, INC. who was seriously concerned by the reach and extent of her destructive rhetoric.”
The statement also stated that a day to the ruling by the jury, Funke Ashekun slumped when she realized that the case was already overwhelmingly against her and was taken out from the court by an emergency 911 Ambulance.
It noted that the following day, her husband suffered the same fate of slumping in court when the jury made its pronouncement.
