A 35-year-old woman, Ifeoma Vivian Nwafor, has been arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged conspiracy and cyberstalking involving the Managing Director of Eleganza Industries Limited, Mrs Folashade Okoya. Nwafor, a native of Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, was charged with three counts by the Inspector-General of Police.
According to the charges, Nwafor allegedly conspired with persons still at large and used Instagram accounts to publish material described as offensive, false, malicious and calculated to cause annoyance, injury, fear, intimidation, enmity and/or needless anxiety to Mrs Okoya. The defendant pleaded not guilty to all three counts when the charges were read to her before Justice Deinde Dipeolu.
The prosecution told the court that Nwafor and others still at large, sometime in June 2026, at Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos, conspired to commit a felony. The alleged offence was brought under Section 516 of the Criminal Law of the Federation. Nwafor was also accused of using Instagram and an online link to publish statements and photographs concerning Mrs Okoya which were described as derogatory.
The allegations in the two counts were brought under provisions of Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015. Following her plea, the court granted her bail in the sum of N3 million, with two sureties in like sum. Justice Dipeolu ordered that the sureties must reside within the court’s jurisdiction, with one of them required to be a blood relation of the defendant.
The sureties were also directed to provide evidence of three years’ tax payment, their National Identification Numbers (NINs) and photographs, as well as depose to affidavits of compliance. The judge further ordered Nwafor to depose to an affidavit undertaking to make herself available throughout the trial. However, pending the perfection of the bail conditions, the court ordered that she be remanded at the Kirikiri Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
The case, filed as Suit No. FHC/LAG/CR/819/2026, was prosecuted by the Legal Department of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos, under the supervision of CSP Adewuyi Taiwo Oyewale, Officer-in-Charge of the department. The court has adjourned the matter until November 8 for trial.
Nwafor, a graduate of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Osun State, has denied all three allegations by pleading not guilty, and the court has yet to determine the merits of the case. The prosecution did not oppose the bail application, having regard to the nature of the alleged offences. Stanley Nwafoaku appeared for the prosecution, while O.J. Aduwa represented the defendant.
Key points
- The defendant, Ifeoma Vivian Nwafor, was granted bail in the sum of N3 million with two sureties.
- The case was adjourned until November 8 for trial.
- Nwafor allegedly used Instagram accounts to publish material described as offensive and malicious against Mrs Okoya.
