By Christian ABURIME
Let us not mince words. Let us not dress this up in the conciliatory
language of diplomatic press statements. What Ejike Ofoegbu
intentionally did, a self-styled online publisher of ‘Igbo Times
Magazine’ and ‘INews’, was not only “irresponsible
journalism,” or a “lapse in judgment,” it was a deliberate,
calculated, and criminal assault on truth.
One that he now apologetically admits was motivated by nothing more
noble than clicks, online traffic, audience engagement, and financial
gain.
And now that the walls have closed in, now that the long arm of the law
has reached his doorstep, Ofoegbu has issued what he calls a “Public
Apology and Full Retraction.” But let us be brutally honest: this
apology is not a moral awakening on the part of reckless bloggers like
him. It is a survival strategy.
It is the desperate attempt of a man who has finally realised that
fabricated stories about a sitting governor and his family do not exist
in the lawless wild world of the internet; they exist in a Nigeria with
cyber laws, defamation statutes, and courts that do not pamper character
assassination.
Anyone who reads Ofoegbu’s apology again, slowly, will be shocked at
the sheer audacity of his fabrications. He did not only concoct and
publish false quotes attributed to Anambra State Governor, Professor
Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, and his son Ozonna. He constructed an
entire theatre of the absurd: a governor “disowning” his son and
claiming he was “ordered from Temu”; a son calling his father a
“drunkard who beat my mom”; a “drinking competition” between a
governor and a minister; and election predictions manufactured from thin
air!
These were satanic works of fiction presented as journalism. Ofoegbu
didn’t just fail to verify his sources; he was the source. He conjured
these narratives in the same manner a novelist constructs characters,
except that his characters were real people whose reputations he
tarnished for clicks and monetisation.
“I sincerely admit that I published such stories in pursuit of online
traffic, audience engagement, and financial gain,” he writes.
There it is. The confession that strips away any pretense of
journalistic privilege. This was not press freedom. This was fraud. This
was not informing the public. This was exploiting the public’s
appetite for sensationalism while monetising human dignity.
But as the saying goes, “everyday is for the thief, one day is for the
owner.” Ofoegbu’s cup of iniquity is full, and the long hands of the
law have caught him. For too long, Nigerian bloggers operating in the
shadows of responsible journalism have hidden behind the shield of
“media practice” while engaging in acts that would constitute criminal
defamation, cyberstalking, and character assassination in any serious
jurisdiction. The law is clear. The law has always been clear. And
Ofoegbu is about to discover that apologies do not erase crimes.
The Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015, Section 24
criminalises cyberstalking, providing that any person who knowingly or
intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer
systems or network that is false, for the purpose of causing a breakdown
in law and order, prejudice, or misleading the recipient, commits an
offense. The penalty? Imprisonment for up to 10 years and/or a fine of
up to N25 million.
In fact, Section 38 specifically addresses identity theft and
impersonation relevant, given Ofoegbu’s fabrication of quoted statements
attributed to Governor Soludo and his son. Also, the Criminal Code Act
(Laws of the Federation), Section 373 defines defamatory matter as that
which “exposes a person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or which
causes him to be shunned or avoided.” The fabricated stories about
Governor Soludo being a wife-beater and drunkard certainly meet this
definition.
Section 375 goes further to provide that a person who publishes
defamatory matter, knowing it to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by imprisonment. And the Nigerian Cybercrime Act 2024
amendment strengthens provisions against the spread of false
information, explicitly targeting individuals who use computer systems
to generate and disseminate false content for financial gain or to cause
harm.
Under Nigerian common law, libel (defamation in permanent form,
including online publication) is actionable per se, meaning damage is
presumed. The plaintiff does not need to prove actual harm. The false
statements about Governor Soludo’s character, his family
relationships, and his son’s fabricated rebellion constitute serious
libel that attracts substantial damages.
While Ofoegbu goes to have his day in court and face the legal
consequences of his criminality, we must now turn our gaze to the
institutions that steward Nigerian journalism practitioners. This is the
time such institutions as the Nigerian Union of Journalists(NUJ),
Nigeria Press Council, Association of Nigeria Bloggers, and others must
rise to confront and banish charlatans and quacks masquerading as
professionals for filthy lucre!
Ejike Ofoegbu is not just an individual who went rogue. He is a symptom
of an ecosystem that may have unwittingly tolerated the erosion of
journalistic ethics in the digital space. The NUJ, which prides itself
as the conscience of the Nigerian press, must disown Ofoegbu. He is not
a journalist. He is a fabricator. He has no place in any professional
body that claims integrity.
The Nigeria Press Council, established under the Nigeria Press Council
Act to promote high professional standards and investigate complaints
against the press, must act with unprecedented firmness. Ofoegbu’s
case should trigger a formal inquiry, a public censure, and a permanent
blacklisting. Any less is an abdication of duty.
And the Association of Nigeria Bloggers, if it aspires to be anything
more than a social club for content creators, must publicly disown
Ofoegbu and institute a code of conduct with teeth to bite The blogging
profession in Nigeria cannot afford to have its reputation tethered to
fraudsters who trade in manufactured outrage. Such are meant to be
discredited and disowned to serve as a deterrent to others.
Ofoegbu’s apology acknowledges that “no amount of money or online
attention can justify spreading false information.” One wishes this
consciousness had arrived before the published viral lies, not after the
law came knocking. But that is the nature of consequence: it teaches
what conscience failed to.
And now, to every blogger, every “publisher”, or every social media
operative who has looked at the Ejike Ofoegbu saga and thought, “He
was careless. I am smarter. I won’t get caught.”
Make no mistakes: you will be caught! Yes, the digital footprint is
permanent. The screenshots are archived. The victims are watching. And
the law may be slow, but is surely mapping your trajectory. It is a
matter of time before you are caught.
To those specifically engaged in what has become a campaign of calumny
against Governor Soludo through his son: you are not smart. You are not
brave. You are not “speaking truth to power.” You are repeating the
exact playbook that just collapsed under the weight of its own
falsehoods. You are building your house on the same quick sand that
swallowed Ofoegbu whole.
So, it pays to always consider your stories carefully. Are your sources
verified, or are they ‘Ofoegbu-verified’, meaning invented in your
imagination?
Do you have recordings, documents, and corroboration, or are you blinded
by just “engagement metrics”?
Can you survive a defamation suit, or will you too be drafting apologies
in panic?
Unfortunately, the Cybercrimes Act does not distinguish between ‘big
bloggers’ and ‘small bloggers.’ The Criminal Code does not care
about your follower count. And Governor Soludo’s legal team is ready
to prove that they will not treat character assassination as mere
politics.
Yet, Ejike Ofoegbu’s apology is not the end of this story. It is the
beginning of accountability. His day in court will establish precedent.
His prosecution will send signals. The question is not whether
Nigeria’s cyber laws are sufficient. They are. And while Ejike
Ofoegbu’s apology is structurally sound, it is morally insufficient.
It admits the ‘what’ and the ‘why’, but it does not address the
systemic damage: the erosion of public trust, the poisoning of political
discourse, the normalisation of ‘news’ as fiction, and the
reputational harm to the innocent.
In the end, what Nigeria needs is not more performative apologies after
the fact of criminality. What society needs is prevention through
justice and consequences.
