The issue of the need for restraint on social media has again come up as a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of actress, Angela Okorie in the Suleja prison in Niger State, over a case on her allegedly calling co-actress Mercy Johnson-Okojie a blood-cucking demon.
The action followed her arraignment on charges of criminal defamation and cyberstalking.
As ‘The Nation’ reports, Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order on Wednesday while ruling on an oral bail application made by Okorie’s lawyer, Alex Ejesieme (SAN) shortly after his client pleaded not guilty to a three-count charge brought against her by the police.
Justice Nwite ordered that the mother of one be kept in the prison until January 30 when her bail application would be heard.
Okorie of 1 Henry Montero Street, Lekki Palm City, Ajah, Lagos is alleged, in the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/278/2025 to have conspired with Ifeoma Mbonu (now at large) to commit cyberstalking and defamation by calling a fellow actress, Mercy Johnson Okojie, a blood sucking demon in their posts on their social media platforms of Instagram and Tiktok.
The police said the offences, allegedly committed in 2024, violated the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention, Etc) Act of 2015.
The prosecuting lawyer, Victor Okoye urged the court to remand the defendant in Suleja prison and fix a date for the prosecution to open its case.
Ejesieme objected to Okoye’s application, claiming that his client was not afforded adequate time and opportunity to prepare for her defence.
The defence lawyer said even though the prosecution filed the charge since July 2025, it only handed a copy to the defendant about an hour before the commencement of proceedings.
He claimed that his client was never informed about the case in court but only arrested her in Lagos the previous day and brought her to Abuja for arraignment. He also claimed that the police denied him access to her for proper briefing.
Ejesieme prayed the court to allow his client to continue to enjoy the administrative bail earlier granted him by the police.
In the alternative, Ejesieme urged the court to release the defendant to him to enable her make provision for her child that has been left alone in Lagos and for her to also file a formal bail application.
The defence lawyer said his client was a single mother of one, who was not afforded time to make adequate arrangement for her child before being brought to Abuja from Lagos.
Responding, Okoye faulted Ejesieme’s arguments. He argued that the administrative bail granted the defendant has since expired upon her arraignment.
Okoye accused Okorie of jumping bail and failing to honour invitations sent to her to report to the police headquarters in Abuja in respect of the case.
The prosecuting lawyer urged the court to order the defendant to file a formal bail application to enable the prosecution exhibit necessary documents in support of its position that the defendant jumped the administrative bail granted her and also failed to honour past invitations sent to her.
Ruling, Justice Nwite confirmed that the police actually sent an invitation to the defendant on January 16 to report at the headquarters in relation to the case.
The judge however faulted the police for denying the defendant access to her lawyers before the court’s proceedings.
He ordered parties to file and exchange all necessary documents in relation to the formal bail application to be filed by the defendant within 24 hours.
Justice Nwite also ordered that the defendant be remanded in Suleja prison and to be produced on January 30 for the hearing of her bail application.
Okorie’s case stemmed from a petition by Mercy Johnson Okojie’s lawyer, in which sundry allegations were made against her and Ifeoma.
Part of the petition, dated Mary 14, 2025 reads: “Most alarmingly, in a recent criminal and defamatory publication, Angela Okorie published the following statement via her Instagram page @ realagelaokorie:
‘Blood sucking demon no see blood suck again, E say na slimming tea. Except there’s no God, MJ go and beg people you chop their destinies and destroyed their hornes else no peace for the wicked!!! Gospel songs won’t save you. Your heart Is Dark!!!’
“This malicious statement, clearly targeted at our client, was published with the intent to cause irreparable reputational injury, incite hatred, provoke unrest among the public and further harass and emotionally traumatize our client.
“The tone, content, and framing of the publication aim to portray our client as a destructive person, despite her widely known public image as a humanitarian and devout Christian mother.
“The principal suspect, Angela Okorie, has demonstrated a relentless and calculated effort to incite public hatred and threaten public peace by repeatedly using her social media platform for criminal intimidation, false accusations, and criminal defamation.
“She has become the most aggressive and persistent in this malicious campaign.”
