A 19-year-old blogger, Nurenorue Surpruchi, has been arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of cyberstalking and defamatory publications against the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu.
Surpruchi was brought before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa on Friday on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, cyberstalking, bullying, and defamation. He, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The prosecution told the court that the defendant, alongside others still at large, allegedly used a computer network on April 5 to circulate false information about Elumelu.
Prosecution counsel, A.G. Obi of the Directorate of Legal Services, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Lagos, informed the court that the charges had already been filed against the defendant.
After the charges were read, the defendant maintained his plea of not guilty.
Obi further stated that the prosecution had only just received the defendant’s bail application earlier in the day and needed time to file a response. She therefore asked the court to remand the defendant pending the hearing of the bail application and to fix a trial date.
Defence counsel, A. Edoh, confirmed the prosecution’s claim, noting that the bail application had been served the same day, and requested a short adjournment for proper hearing.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa adjourned the matter until June 19 for hearing of the bail application and ordered that Surpruchi be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
