A 19-year-old blogger, Nurenorue Surpruchi, was on Friday arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of cyberstalking and defamation targeting the Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu.
Surpruchi was brought before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa on a four-count charge involving conspiracy, cyberstalking, bullying, and defamation. He, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The police prosecution alleged that the defendant, alongside others still at large, conspired on April 5, 2026, to circulate false and damaging content about Elumelu using a computer network.
Prosecution counsel, A.G. Obi, told the court that the charges had been filed and requested that they be read to the defendant for his plea.
Following his plea of not guilty, the prosecution informed the court that it had only just received the defence’s bail application and needed time to respond. Obi therefore urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending the hearing of the bail request.
Defence counsel, A. Edoh, did not oppose the adjournment request, noting that the bail application had just been served on the prosecution and asked for time for proper consideration.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa subsequently adjourned the case to June 19, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and ordered that the defendant remain in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Court documents alleged that Surpruchi used an X (formerly Twitter) account identified as “@PROBLElEMCHIMKYI” to publish false claims that Elumelu divorced his wife after DNA tests allegedly revealed that none of his seven children were biologically his.
The prosecution further stated that the post, which reportedly attracted about 1.9 million views, 1,600 reposts, 6,300 likes, and over 600 saves, was intended to harass and damage the reputation of the UBA chairman.
He is being prosecuted under sections of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended), and the Criminal Code Act.
19-Year-Old Blogger Arraigned Over Alleged Defamation Post Against Elumelu
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