The US District Court in Maryland has dismissed a libel suit filed against Arise TV by a Nigerian pastor Adetunmbi Adewami for lack of jurisdiction.
Adewami, lead pastor of Christ Royal Assembly for All Nations International, headquartered in Maryland, USA, filed the case against Arise TV, through its parent company, Arise Media Inc.(Nigeria) on April 20, 2023.
He alleged in the suit that a news article, titled, ‘Pastor charges N310k for heaven’, which Arise TV aired and published on the internet on April 27, 2022, caused him harm and resulted in “severe and serious emotional distress.”
Adewami said the article falsely used his picture and maliciously claimed that he charged congregants N310,000 to enable them to fly to heaven.
The pastor said this “false and offensive broadcast” was aired and disseminated to a global audience through the internet and to the thousands of people who live in Maryland.
For this reason, Adewami said the circulation of that broadcast damaged his reputation as a “cleric, pastor, and Christian missionary” to the point that he lost congregation members.
Ruling on the case on June 25, Judge Peter Messite said the fact that the news article complained of by the plaintiff was accessible through the internet in Maryland did not automatically empower the court to hear the matter.
He maintained that the defendant, Arise TV, must have sufficient contact with Maryland to activate the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case.
“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 court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over Arise TV because the broadcaster is not incorporated in Maryland and has no explicit affiliation with Maryland.
