The police in Lagos State have arrested an online blogger, identified as Stanley Okoruwa, for allegedly defaming international businessman Emeka Okonkwo, popularly known as “E-Money.”
The suspect, who was presented to the press on Monday, confessed to the crime and claimed he used the offending video to boost his online followership.
In the video, Stanley accused the businessman of having an illicit affair with the wife of the late Nollywood star John Odonwodo, also known as Junior Pope. He also accused E-Money of being responsible for Junior Pope’s death in a boat accident.
The police spokesperson told reporters that the suspect would be prosecuted for cyberbullying and defamation of character.
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“He is going to be prosecuted because the things he engaged in were criminal in nature,” said the police spokesperson.
“He has allegedly defamed E-Money, and he is going to be prosecuted. We are not prosecuting the suspect because of the personality involved, but because he has allegedly committed a crime.
The personality went through the normal channels by reporting the case to the police, and we investigated and arrested the suspect.”
The spokesperson warned social media users against posting content that could harm others, stressing that action may be taken if anyone finds their content offensive.
While speaking to reporters, the suspect said, “I did a video about E-Money. I said a lot of things that are not true in that video, which is why the police arrested me.”
He added, “I said something regarding a video I saw online about a woman saying that Sir E-Money is responsible for what happened to Nollywood actor John Odonwodo, aka Junior Pope.
I also said that Sir E-Money was having an affair with Junior Pope’s wife. I have never in my life met E-Money. Everything I said in that video was not true.”
The suspect admitted, “I made the video out of trying to boost my page’s traffic level. I never knew it would go viral the way it did. I didn’t have bad intentions to tarnish Sir E-Money’s name. I was just making the video; I didn’t know it would spread so widely.”
“I know the contents of the video were wrong of me to make. I didn’t know the video would escalate to that extent,” he added.
Stanley stated, “When I saw that the video was already going viral, I thought pulling it down wouldn’t make sense, so I decided to leave it. I haven’t reached out to E-Money to apologize because I don’t have his contact information.”
He pleaded, “I was already planning to make an apology video when the police arrested me. I have been praying for the opportunity to apologize to him. I am very sorry, Sir E-Money. I didn’t mean to tarnish your image or spoil your name online.”
