Following his imprisonment over a widely shared tweet claiming that the Nigerian billionaira and entreprenueur Tony Elumelu had divorced his wife, sister of 18-year-old social media user and UTME candidate Kingsley Akunemeihe has pleaded with the businessman to pardon him.
The suspect’s sister, Ngozi Akunemeihe, stated in a video appeal posted on her Instagram account on Sunday, and obtained by ENigeria Newspaper, that the adolescent was apprehended after posting a claim that Elumelu had divorced his wife, Awele, on X (previously Twitter).
“Mr Tony Elumelu got the police to arrest my 18-year-old younger brother, Kingsley Chinanu Akunemeihe. He was arrested on Saturday, 18 April. He was coming back from his JAMB exam when he was arrested and never got home,” she revealed in the video.
“He said he got it from another person’s handle and shared it with others. After sharing it, people called his attention that the post is fake and defamatory. He acknowledged he did something wrong and apologised for it. His apology posts are still there on his handle. He has now been detained for ten days now”, she said.’
Ngozi then made an urgent plea to Elumelu to take into account the suspect’s age and pardon him, emphasizing that he had expressed regret.
“I am begging you sir, please forgive him. He is just 18. I know people may say he is an adult, but he is still a teenager who acted out of ignorance. He realised that what he did was not okay and he has apologised. I am begging you to withdraw the complaint so that he can come back home”, she pleaded.
Recall that Tony Elumelu had previously rejected the allegation as untrue and malicious. The billionaire, through his United Bank for Africa, maintained that the publishing was intended to deceive the public and harm people’s reputations.
“The attention of UBA Group has been drawn to a false, defamatory, and malicious publication currently circulating on social media platforms, falsely alleging that the Group Chairman, Mr Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, has divorced his wife.”
“We confirm that three individuals directly connected to the creation and dissemination of these malicious falsehoods have been arrested”, the statement had said.
