A lady named Nwakaego Blessing Okoye has been sentenced to three years in prison for defaming and cyberstalking Nollywood actress, Eniola Badmus via the social media app TikTok.
Ego Blessing Okoye was arrested after she accused Eniola Badmus of being a “professional pimp” who connected young girls with top politicians for financial gains.
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The lady, who claimed a friend paid her N200k to make the false allegations against Eniola, also accused the actress of engaging in sexual affairs with numerous politicians to advance her political aspirations in the country.
Nwakaego pleaded guilty on Wednesday, August 2, when she was charged to court on a two-count charge bordering on cyberstalking at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The charge revealed that Nwakego and another person named Chimabia (now at large) conspired to commit the offense between December 2022 and July 2023 in Lagos.
They were said to have knowingly transmitted false and offensive information via Tiktok, Gossipmill TV, remedy blog, and other social media platforms, using her mobile number.
The police said their conduct was “grossly offensive, false and for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred and needless anxiety to the prejudice of Badmus.”
The court heard that they committed an offense punishable under section sections 24(1)(b)(2)(a)(c) and 27 of the Cybercrimes (prohibition, prevention, etc) Act 2015.”
The prosecution counsel, Nosa Uhumwangho, disclosed that Nwakaego made a video spreading a false story about Eniola Badmus, claiming that the actress introduced young Nigerian girls to men.
Nosa said the motivation behind the video came from a male friend, and Nwakaego received financial compensation for creating and sharing the maligning content.
“Blessing said a friend who claimed to know Eniola Badmus narrated the false story to her and that she in turn, narrated the story to a male friend Chimabia, who asked her to do a video of the false story that Eniola Badmus specialises in introducing young Nigerian girls to men.
“Blessing said after making the video, Chimabia gave her N200,000 and asked her to post it on her Tiktok from where other platforms picked it,” Nosa said.
Following her arraignment, Nwakaego was convicted on two charges, with one-year imprisonment and a fine of N50,000 on count one, and two years imprisonment and a fine of N100,000 on count two.
The terms of the consecutive are to be consecutive, while the terms of imprisonment are to be concurrent.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo, considering the convict’s remorse, offered her an alternative to paying a fine of N150,000 instead of serving jail time.
Nwakaego has agreed to pay the N150,000 fine to secure her release, opting for the fine rather than serving the full three-year prison term.
