Meta Platforms Inc. has filed an appeal against a judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, which granted interim reliefs in a suit involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Court documents sighted by our reporter show that Meta Platforms Inc. is the appellant, while Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Prof. Sandra C. Duru, also known as Prof. Mgbeke, are listed as the respondents.
In the Notice of Appeal, Meta expressed dissatisfaction with the decision delivered on January 15, 2026, by Justice I. Mohammed in Suit No. FCT/HC/GWD/CV/229/2025: Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan v. Sandra C. Duru (aka Prof. Mgbeke) & Meta Platforms Inc. The company is seeking to have the judgement set aside by the Court of Appeal.
Among the reliefs sought, Meta is asking the appellate court to allow the appeal, set aside the decision of the FCT High Court, dismiss the first respondent’s application for an interlocutory injunction, and order the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court to transfer the suit to another judge for hearing.
The appeal follows an earlier ruling in which a Federal High Court in Abuja granted an interim injunction restraining US-based activist Prof. Sandra Duru and Meta Platforms, operator of Facebook, from publishing or sharing content alleged to be defamatory against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. The court held that there was a “serious question to be tried” and that continued publication could cause “irreparable damage” to the senator’s reputation.
Justice Mohammed had also ordered Prof. Duru to refrain from posting defamatory content about the senator on social media pending the determination of the substantive suit.
However, Prof. Duru, a US-based activist, has denied claims that any court restrained her from speaking publicly or ordered the removal of her social media posts. In a statement issued in Abuja, she described reports to that effect as false, misleading, and a deliberate misrepresentation of judicial proceedings.
She said her clarification followed media reports of an alleged interlocutory injunction granted by a Federal High Court in Abuja in a suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly.
