A woman, Folashade Olalude, has been brought before the Ebute-Metta Chief Magistrate Court on Friday, facing charges related to alleged cyberbullying and threats to kill a businessman. Chief Magistrate Olwatosin Fowowe-Erusiafe presided over the arraignment where the defendant pleaded not guilty to the four counts presented by the police.
The prosecutor, Mr. Henry Obiazi, informed the court that between 2015 and 2022, the defendant, along with others at large, conspired to commit offenses including conspiracy, intent to steal, cyberbullying, and threat to kill. According to Obiazi, the defendant demanded over N5 million on multiple occasions from Alhaji Lawal Abdullateef, intending to steal, and threatened to harm his reputation by exposing him as a fraudster on the Internet or defaming his Nollywood actress wife, Lizzy Anjorin, through bloggers’ websites.
Additionally, the prosecutor disclosed that in October 2023, the defendant sent a threatening letter to the businessman and conveyed the same threat through a message to Abdullateef’s phone. The charges levied against Olalude are said to contravene Sections 411, 301, and 232 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
Upon entering a not guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services until the charges were determined. In response, the defendant’s lawyer, I. S. Ijenkeri, requested bail for Olalude, emphasizing that the charges were bailable offenses.
After considering both arguments, Magistrate Fowowe-Ersiafe granted bail to the defendant in the sum of N200,000, with two sureties of the same amount. However, she ordered Olalude’s remand at the Kirikiri female section of the Nigerian Correctional Services until the bail conditions were met. The trial is scheduled to commence on March 14, 2024.
