A U.S court has given an ultimatum to Autumn Spikes, an ex-mistress of the African richest man, Aliko Dangote, to respond to his libel suit.
A copy of the court’s ‘civil action summons’ obtained by PREMIUM TIMES , on Friday, said Ms Spikes has “20 calendar days” from the day she is served with the wealthy Nigerian suit to file her response.
Ms Spikes has said she has yet to be served the court documents.
PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported how Mr Dangote, used a pseudonym, John Doe, to file a libel suit against Ms Spikes for allegedly trying to extort $5million (about N1.9billion) from him.
He is seeking damages “in excess of $30,000” (about N11.4million) against Ms Spikes.
Court warns
PREMIUM TIMES on Friday saw a copy of the summons issued by a Deputy Clerk of the Miami-Dade County Court in Florida, U.S, on January 26, warning Ms Spikes against failing to respond to the suit on time.
Titled, ‘IMPORTANT,’ the court summons warned Ms Spikes she could lose the case if her response was filed late.
The document added that her late response to the suit could also cost her her wages and money, and that her property might thereafter be taken “without further warming from the court.”
It read in part, “A lawsuit has been filed against you. You have 20 calendar days after this summons is served on you to file a written response to the attached Complaint with the clerk of this Court.
“A phone call will not protect you. Your written response, including the case number given above and the names of the parties must be filed if you want the court to hear your side of the case.
“If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and your wages, money, and property may thereafter be taken without further warming from the court. There are other legal requirements.”
‘Get a lawyer’
Ms Spikes was also advised in the summons to call an attorney “right away.”
“If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service or a legal aid office (listed in the phone book),” the summons added.
The summons also listed various locations where she could file her written response if she chooses to do so by herself.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Love affair gone bad
The lid on Mr Dangote’s affair of about 10 years with Ms Spikes was blown open in a January 1 Instagram post of a short footage by the lady, showing herself seated beside Mr Dangote who was lying down on a couch with part of his buttocks exposed.
Mr Dangote had sought to end the affair at about the time another former girlfriend of his, Bea Lewis, took to the social media in December to expose their past time together.
Ms Spikes recently said she was “pressured and influenced” to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Mr Dangote whom she said “insultingly” offered her $15,000 and $2,500 to keep her affair with him private.
The lady had through an email exchange between her lawyer and Mr Dangote’s, insisted on being paid $5million by the wealthy business man for his decision to end their affair.
Mr Dangote in his suit alleged that Ms Spikes had threatened to take their affairs to media talks shows and the social media in violation of an existing Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) between them.
Ms Spikes denies Mr Dangote’s claim in a recent Instagram post.
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