A Lagos High Court awarded Nollywood actress Adunni Ade ₦30 million in damages after ruling against Google over stories linking her to former senator Dino Melaye.The judgment, delivered on July 9, 2025, by Hon. Justice I.O. Harrison of the Lagos Judicial Division, awarded the actress ₦30 million in general damages, alongside an order compelling Google to delete the publications from both Google.com and YouTube.The case, filed in July 2024, centred on two stories that appeared on Google and YouTube. The first was captioned “How Dino Melaye used fake Patek Watch to woo and knack Actress Adunni Ade back, front and centre. The second described her as being involved in a heated exchange with an Instagram blog after being listed among six celebrities said to have dated Melaye.
Adunni, whose legal name is Adunni Adewale, argued that the continued publication of her name and photograph in connection with those stories violated her constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and breached the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, which requires that personal data be processed in a fair, accurate and transparent manner. The court agreed, finding that Google, as the data controller, had failed to ensure that information tied to the actress was accurate and not misleading.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the case was Google’s complete absence from the proceedings. Despite being served electronically by court order in December 2024, Google filed no response, sent no legal representative, and made no appearance at any stage of the hearing. The court proceeded without them. Meta Platforms, originally listed as a second respondent, was dropped from the case in April 2025 after filing a preliminary objection.
Adunni had initially sought ₦100 million in damages. The court settled on ₦30 million, also ordering a formal apology as part of the remedy.Neither Google nor Adunni Ade has issued a public statement on the judgment at the time of this report.
