The police on Friday arraigned a 19-year-old blogger, Nurenorue Surpruchi, before the Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged cyberstalking and defamatory posts against the Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu.
Surpruchi was arraigned before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, cyberstalking, bullying and defamation. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
According to the prosecution, the defendant and others still at large allegedly conspired on April 5, 2026, to use a computer system and network to disseminate false and injurious information against Elumelu.
In one of the counts, the prosecution alleged that the defendant used an X account to publish false and offensive statements claiming that Elumelu had divorced his wife after discovering through DNA tests that none of his seven children belonged to him.
The publication reportedly garnered about 1.9 million views, 1,600 reposts, 6,300 likes and over 600 saves.
After listening to both parties, Justice Lewis-Allagoa adjourned the matter until June 19, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application, and ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Correctional Service.
UBA confirmed that three individuals were arrested as part of an ongoing investigation, describing the viral report as fabricated and designed to mislead the public while damaging the reputation of its chairman.
The bank also issued warnings to individuals and platforms that spread the content, directing them to remove it and cease further circulation.
Among those earlier arrested was an 18-year-old UTME candidate, Kingsley Chinanu Akunemeihe, whose sister publicly appealed to Elumelu for forgiveness, saying her brother had deleted the post and issued an apology after realising it was false.
