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.
When
the matter came up for arraignment, prosecution counsel, A.G. Obi, from the
Directorate of Legal Services, Force Criminal Investigation Department,
Alagbon, Lagos, informed the court that the prosecution had filed a four-count
charge against the defendant and urged the court to direct that the charges be
read to him for plea.
The
charges were subsequently read, and the defendant pleaded not guilty to all
counts.
Following
the plea, Obi told the court that although the prosecution was ready to proceed
with the matter, it had only just been served with the defendant’s bail
application earlier in the day.
She
said the prosecution would require time to study the application and file an
appropriate response, urged the court to remand the defendant in the custody of
the Correctional Centre pending the hearing and determination of the bail
application.
The
prosecutor also asked the court for a trial date.
Defence
counsel, A. Edoh, confirmed that the bail application had only just been served
on the prosecution and appealed for a short adjournment to enable the court to
hear the application.
After
listening to both parties, Justice Lewis-Allagoa adjourned the matter until
June 19, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application.
The
judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the
Correctional Service.
In one
of the counts, the prosecution alleged that the defendant used an X account
identified as “@PROBLElEMCHIMKYI,” allegedly registered in his name, 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
prosecution further alleged that the publication, which reportedly garnered
about 1.9 million views, 1,600 reposts, 6,300 likes and over 600 saves, was
intended to bully, threaten and harass the UBA chairman, thereby injuring his
reputation and exposing him to public ridicule.
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