Actress and filmmaker Eniola Ajao has explained why she pursued legal action after a blogger allegedly manipulated video footage of her at the burial of Ambassador Odunlade Adekola’s father and circulated it online to ridicule her.
Ajao said the doctored clip, shared by blogger Adabasioni Oluwafemi Aseoro, misrepresented her and opened her up to years of trolling. She told fans and the media that, after consulting her media and legal teams, she decided to seek redress under Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act.
“Adabasioni took videos of me, which were made by another party blogger with malicious intentions. Adabasioni manipulated the video to suit his narrative and posted it online to achieve his trolling goal,” Ajao wrote in a public statement. She added that the altered footage became the focus of ridicule and nobody questioned its authenticity.
Authorities arrested and prosecuted the blogger on charges of criminal defamation and cyberbullying, Ajao said. After failing to substantiate his claims, he was detained for two weeks at Ikoyi prison. The blogger later apologised and removed the defamatory content following interventions from family and friends, she said.
Ajao described the outcome as a necessary warning to online content creators and urged journalists and bloggers to consider the legal risks of publishing manipulated material. “If you want to drive traffic to your page with defamatory stories, you will pay dearly for your foolishness,” she wrote, warning that those found guilty of defamation could face severe penalties.
She also thanked law enforcement and activists who supported her case, singling out CSP Mariam Ogunmolasuyi and human rights campaigner Aghedo Kehinde Stephen for their assistance.
Ajao said she has forgiven the blogger but stressed she would pursue legal action against anyone who uses social media to damage reputations. She warned that even bloggers based abroad are not beyond reach, noting that petitions have been filed against some who troll from overseas.
The actress, who said she has endured years of online harassment while working to build her career, urged fellow public figures and members of the public to learn from the incident and to respect the law when sharing content online.
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