- The Chef Dammy and Pastor Samuel Adegoke saga reached a boiling point when the chef, in pursuit of a Guinness World Record, found herself in police custody.
- Now, with the Ekiti State Government throwing its hat into the ring, they’ve filed a lawsuit against Pastor Adegoke, seeking a whopping N10 million in damages on behalf of Chef Dammy.
The Directorate of Citizens Rights (DCR) from the Ministry of Justice in Ekiti State has initiated legal action on behalf of Chef Damilola Adeparusi, widely recognized as Chef Dammy.
The lawsuit targets Pastor Jeremiah Adegoke and the Ekiti State Police Command, alleging violations of the chef’s rights.
Additionally, the DCR is pursuing a compensation claim of N10 million for damages on behalf of the accomplished student chef, who gained prominence through a cook-a-thon challenge aiming to break the Guinness World Record in June.
The DCR petitioned the court for a restraining order, seeking to prevent Adegoke and the police from re-arresting Chef Dammy.
This legal action comes within a week of Chef Dammy’s reported arrest allegedly at the orders from Adegoke, her pastor and the head of Spirit Word Global Mission, an Ekiti-based church that reportedly sponsored Chef Dammy’s record-breaking cook-a-thon.
The discord between Chef Dammy and her pastor unfolded in October, triggered by the 24-year-old’s public outcry about persistent threats and intimidation from individuals she referred to as “people of God” and her pastor.
The 300-level Mass Communication student at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), revealed that she lived in constant fear for her life due to the alleged threats and bullying.
Although the source of the feud between the chef and her once-supportive pastor is still vague, their dispute appears to have been a fallout of the cook-a-thon.
Following Chef Dammy’s public outcry, Adegoke, in a letter signed by his lawyers, Bisayo Sule & Co legal practitioners, dated 23 October 2023, demanded a retraction of the alleged defamatory statement on social media, an apology on two widely read national dailies and payment of a sum of N22 million for damages.
He gave Chef Dammy seven days to comply with the demands or risk being sued.
However, in the suit filed by DCR on November 24, Chef Dammy was named as the applicant, Adegoke and Ajewole Samuel, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, and the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 17 Akure, were named respondents.
The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the continued harassment, molestation, threat of arrest, and intimidation by the pastor, and the Nigerian police, infringes on the applicant’s fundamental human rights.