The Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone 2 has summoned five social media users for “criminal defamation” of Mercy Chinwo’s and her husband, Blessed Uzochikwa, reputations.
In a court summons dated April 3, 2024, obtained by Channels Television, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the five defendants to appear in person before the court on April 23, 2023, to answer the charges levelled against the complainants.
Blessed Uzochikwa and Mercy Chinwo are the complainants in this case, and Okoronkwo Ejike, Kingsley Ibeh, DJ Spoiltkid, Terrence Ekot, and Samuel Agozie are the five defendants.
The claim originated from the defendants’ posts last week, after the gospel singer and her husband shared an Instagram photo of their son.
After posting a picture of the baby, who was born in 2023, the defendants claimed that the infant resembled another gospel musician, Nathaniel Bassey, and that he was the father, an allegation that went viral.
Mercy Chinwo and her husband filed a criminal complaint against the defendants, led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor, alleging cyber intimidation, injurious lying, and cyberstalking directed at their persons.
The complainants claimed the defendants’ alleged conduct violated Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015.
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The “individuals criminally injured the reputation and image of the complainants across the globe resulting from their intentional defamatory posts and an act of cyberstalking,” the lawyers said in a criminal complaint filed before the magistrate.
