Alleged defamation: Popular pastor, Helen Ukpabio, threatens Bloody Civilian with N200bn lawsuit

The President and Founder of Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, Helen Ukpabio, has threatened to sue singer Emoseh Khamofu, popularly known as Bloody Civilian, for alleged defamation, demanding N200 billion in damages.

This was stated in a letter dated November 25, 2024, which Bloody Civilian retweeted on Saturday, November 23, 2025.

In the letter, the Akwa Ibom-born pastor, through her legal counsel—Victor Ukutt and Co. Legal Practitioners—issued the demand under the title, “Demand for Public Apology and Compensation for the Libel of Imaobong Elijah Ukpabio and Apostle Helen Ukpabio.”

As observed by PUNCH Online on Sunday, the controversy began when an X (formerly Twitter) user identified as #OneJoblessBoy posted the pastor’s photo on Friday with the caption, “Pastor Helen Ukpabio turns 60 today.” The tweet garnered significant attention, amassing 4.6 million views and a flurry of reactions.

Bloody Civilian later retweeted the post with the claim, “She literally made people burn their children alive.”

This comment sparked a response from the pastor’s daughter, Imaobong Ukpabio, who tweeted under the handle #ima_Elijah, demanding that Bloody Civilian delete the post within five hours or face legal action.

“I give you the next five hours to take this down, or I will educate you in court!” Imaobong warned.

In the letter, signed on behalf of the firm by its General Counsel, Victor Ukutt, Bloody Civilian’s tweets were described as “reckless, satanic, and libellous.”

The firm maintained that the allegations were “grossly false and devoid of any iota of truth,” accusing the singer of intending to “ridicule” their clients.

The letter partly read: “Our clients’ attention has been drawn to your reckless, satanic, and libellous posts on X (formerly Twitter), one of the world’s largest social media platforms. Using your verified account, #bloody__civ, on 22 November 2024, you wrote: ‘She literally made people burn their children alive’ and ‘See, she’s gotten banned from the UK for her atrocities,’ among other statements.”

The letter alleged that Bloody Civilian’s statements implied that Helen Ukpabio, promotes the killing of children labelled as witches; uses her teachings to encourage exorcism, leading to child abuse, abandonment, and death, and is unfit to live in a decent society.

Police and DSS Investigations

The legal counsel argued that the accusations had severely damaged the pastor’s reputation and that investigations by the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Security Services had debunked the claims, declaring them “grossly false.”

The letter further demanded a written apology from the singer, to be published on her social media platforms and in both local and international media.

“Take notice that in consideration of this wicked and libellous publication, we demand from you the sum of two hundred billion naira (N200,000,000,000) as damages for the distress, trauma, pain, and anguish caused to our clients. This sum must be channelled to our chambers within one week of receiving this letter,” the letter stated.