Police hunt socialite who sued bloggers for alleged defamation

 

The Nigeria Police Force has begun a hunt for a Lagos socialite and blogger, Dorcas Adeyinka, over alleged cyberstalking, abduction, murder, injurious falsehood, threat to life, and extortion.

Though the police did not provide details of the allegations against the socialite, they urged the public to “arrest and hand over the suspect to the nearest police station or the office of the IGP Monitoring Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja.”

The NPF further described Adeyinka as a married female Yoruba blogger from Ekiti and Ibadan, approximately 1.64m, with an oval face, tribal marks, pointed nose, wide mouth, full and white dentition, and light skinnies with black eyes.

The police said that she lives in the United Kingdom, and frequently visits Ikeja, Ogugua, Fagba, Otta and Sango.

Reacting to the post through her blog page on Facebook @House of TMS Blog, on Sunday, Adeyinka urged the police to be fair in their investigation while stressing that she had always honoured their invitation.

She wrote, “Only me all these offences? We can do better than this in this country.

Have you carried out your investigation before alleging (sic) me? Have I refused to answer any police calls or invitations? Anyway, I will see you at your office very soon.

“I am Dorcas Adeyinka, a proud British Citizen. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, The PUNCH had earlier reported that a Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, had summoned two social media users for criminal defamation of a socialite, Dorcas Adeyinka, by allegedly sharing her nude photo online.

In the court summons dated Thursday, May 9, 2024, which was exclusively obtained by our correspondent, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the two defendants – Tolulope Adeoye aka Abike Jagaban and Tolulope Odegbami aka Olowosibi – to appear in persons before the court on June 4, 2024, to answer the charges levelled against them by the complainant.

The summons followed a criminal complaint filed by the complainant’s lawyers led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of an Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor.

The socialite accused the defendants of sharing her nude photo on social media and ridiculing her.

The application partly read, “On March 5, 2022, Abike Jagaban shared the complainant’s nude pictures on Youtube, directing her followers to different online platforms where the complainant’s pictures were/are shared and ridiculed the complainant in the process.

“The video was captioned: ‘Abike Jagaban on Dorcas Adeyinka, aka TMS Blog’. These actions have exposed the complainant to contempt, hatred, and detestation as some people can be seen making disparaging remarks against the person of the complainant in the comment section of the above-referenced post. Abike Jagaban has also bullied the complainant in another video titled, ‘How Abike Jagaban Bully Dorcas Adeyinka’

“The defendants have also circulated publications on social media, alleging that the complainant is responsible for the death of an individual named Folusho Asimiyu, also known as ‘Iya Ibeji’, whom the complainant had previously supported financially through her non-governmental organisation. These allegations have been made without any evidence or connection linking the complainant to the demise of Folunsho Asimiyu.”

The complainant told the court that the alleged actions of the defendants constituted criminal defamation and contravened Sections 391 of the Penal Code.

In Suit No CR/93/2024 with Motion No: MN/140/2024, Magistrate Iyanna ordered the complainant to serve the defendants with the criminal summons and all other subsequent processes of the court via their social media handle or pages @Tolulope Omolara Ghaba (Facebook) and @Princess Tolulope Ajike Olowosibi (Facebook).

The magistrate adjourned the matter to June 4, 2024, and ordered that the two defendants be present in court on the said date.