Police arraigned a 19-year-old blogger in Lagos over alleged Tony Elumelu defamation and cyberstalking charges

A 19-year-old blogger, Nurenorue John Surpruchi, was on Friday arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos by the Force Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police over alleged cyberstalking and defamatory publications targeting the Group Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Mr Tony Elumelu.

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Justice Lewis Alagoa ordered the remand of Surpruchi at the Nigerian Correctional Centre after the defendant pleaded not guilty to a four-count charge bordering on alleged cyberstalking, bullying and defamation.

The prosecution, led by Barrister A.G. Obi, told the court that the defendant and others currently at large allegedly conspired on April 5, 2026, to disseminate false and injurious information against the prominent businessman through social media.

According to the charges, the police accused Surpruchi of using a Twitter account identified as “@PROBLElEMCHIMKYI” to publish claims that Tony Elumelu had divorced his wife following an alleged DNA discovery involving his children.

The prosecution alleged that the publication was knowingly false and intended to cause annoyance, hatred, ridicule and reputational damage to the UBA chairman and his family.

Court documents further stated that the social media post allegedly attracted about 1.9 million views, more than 1,600 reposts, 6,300 likes and over 600 saves, a development investigators described as deeply damaging to the businessman’s public image.

During proceedings, Obi informed the court that the prosecution was ready for trial but noted that a bail application filed by the defence had only been served earlier in the day.

The prosecutor requested time to study the application and file a response, while also asking the court to remand the defendant pending the hearing of the bail request.

Defence counsel, Barrister A. Edoh, confirmed filing the bail application and urged the court to grant a short adjournment for its hearing.

Following submissions from both parties, Justice Alagoa adjourned the matter until June 19, 2026, for hearing of the bail application.

The case has drawn fresh attention to the growing use of Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act in prosecuting online publications and alleged defamatory content shared through social media platforms.

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The police maintained that the charges against the defendant were based on allegations of false publication and cyberstalking under existing Nigerian laws.