A Magistrate Court in Abuja has summoned five social media users for “criminal defamation” of the reputation of gospel singer Mercy Chinwo and her husband Pastor Blessed Uzochikwa.
In the court summons dated April 3, 2024, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the five defendants to appear in person before the court on April 23, 2024, to answer the charges against them.
The complainants in the matter are Mercy and Blessed while the five defendants are Okoronkwo Ejike, Kingsley Ibeh, DJ Spoiltkid, Terrence Ekot, and Samuel Agozie.
The suit stemmed from a paternity claim made by the defendants last week after the gospel singer and her husband posted a picture of their son on Instagram.
After photos of the baby, who was born in 2023, were uploaded on Instagram, the defendants alleged that there was a resemblance between the baby and another gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey, and claimed that he was the father, an allegation that went viral.
In a criminal complaint filed by the complainants’ lawyers led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of Abuja-based media firm, Law Corridor, Mercy Chinwo and her husband said the alleged actions of the defendants amounted to cyber intimidation, injurious falsehood, and cyberstalking targeted at their persons.
The complainants said the alleged actions of the defendants are contrary to Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015.
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.
Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna thereafter directed the five defendants to appear before the court on April 23, 2024, to answer the charges.
This comes after Nathaniel Bassey petitioned the police to investigate and prosecute the individuals who claimed he fathered Mercy Chinwo’s son.
