COURT SUMMONS FIVE PEOPLE ACCUSING NATHANIEL BASSEY OF BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR MERCY CHINWO’S SON.

The Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2, has summoned five social media users for “criminal defamation” of gospel artist Mercy Chinwo and her husband, Blessed Uzochikwa.

In a court summons dated April 3, 2024, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the five defendants to appear in person before the court on April 23, 2023, to answer the allegations brought against the complainants.

The complainants in this case are Blessed Uzochikwa and Mercy Chinwo, while the five defendants are Okoronkwo Ejike, Kingsley Ibeh, DJ Spoiltkid, Terrence Ekot, and Samuel Agozie.

The gospel singer and her husband uploaded a photo of their son to Instagram last week, which sparked the lawsuit based on statements made by the defendants.

The defendants claimed that they were the baby’s father and that the child resembled another gospel musician, Nathaniel Bassey, after the baby’s 2023 birth photo was shared online. This claim quickly gained traction.

In a criminal complaint, Mercy Chinwo and her spouse claimed that the defendants had engaged in cyberstalking, injurious lying, and cyber intimidation directed against them. The complainants’ attorneys, lead by Pelumi Olajengbesi of the Abuja-based media company Law Corridor, submitted the complaint.

The complainants claimed that the defendants’ purported conduct violated Sections 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act 2015 and Section 391 of the Penal Code.

“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.