RismadarVoice Reporters
May 29, 2026
A 19-year-old blogger, Nurenorue Surpruchi, was on Friday arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of cyberstalking, defamation, and online harassment targeted at the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), 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 charges.
The police alleged that the defendant and others still at large conspired on April 5, 2026, to use a computer network to circulate false and injurious information about Elumelu.
At the proceedings, prosecution counsel, A.G. Obi of the Directorate of Legal Services, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, informed the court that the prosecution was ready to proceed and urged the court to take the defendant’s plea.
Following the plea, Obi told the court that the prosecution had only just been served with the defendant’s bail application and requested time to respond before the application could be heard. She therefore urged the court to remand the defendant pending the determination of the bail application.
Defence counsel, A. Edoh, confirmed the timing of the service of the bail application and asked for a short adjournment to enable the court to consider it.
After hearing both parties, Justice Lewis-Allagoa adjourned the matter until June 19, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application. The court also ordered that the defendant be remanded in a Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.
In one of the counts, the prosecution alleged that Surpruchi used an X (formerly Twitter) account identified as “@PROBLElEMCHIMKYI,” allegedly registered in his name, to publish statements claiming that Elumelu had divorced his wife following a DNA test that allegedly revealed he was not the biological father of his seven children.
The prosecution further alleged that the post, which reportedly generated about 1.9 million views, 1,600 reposts, 6,300 likes, and over 600 saves, was intended to harass, bully, and injure the reputation of the UBA chairman.
The alleged offences are said to contravene Sections 24(1)(b), 24(2)(a), and 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended), as well as Sections 373 and 375 of the Criminal Code Act.
