Following his detention due to a widely shared tweet claiming that the banker had divorced his wife, the family of 18-year-old social media user and UTME candidate Kingsley Akunemeihe has pleaded with billionaire businessman Tony Elumelu to pardon him.
The suspect’s sister, Ngozi Akunemeihe, stated in a video appeal posted on her Instagram account on Sunday that the adolescent was apprehended after posting a claim that Elumelu had divorced his wife, Awele, on X (previously Twitter).
She claims that after taking his JAMB exam, the young man was arrested on his way home and has been detained ever then.
“Kingsley Chinanu Akunemeihe, my 18-year-old younger brother, was arrested by the police thanks to Mr. Tony Elumelu. On Saturday, April 18, he was taken into custody. He was arrested while returning after his JAMB exam and never made it home,” she said.
Ngozi said that the message in question was lifted from another user’s page and reshared rather than being the original creation of her brother.
He claimed to have shared it with others after obtaining it from someone else’s handle. People pointed out that the message was fraudulent and libelous when he shared it, she said.
She went on to say that after realizing the message was untrue, the teenager took responsibility by removing it and apologizing on his platform.
“He apologized and admitted that he had done something wrong. He continues to send apologies messages on his Twitter,” she said.
She claimed that despite the apologies, the young man was taken into custody at the State Criminal Investigation Department around ten days later.
She stated, “He has been detained for more than a week.”
Ngozi made an urgent plea to Elumelu to take into account the suspect’s age and pardon him, emphasizing that he had expressed regret.
“I implore you, sir, to pardon him. He is only eighteen. He is still a teenager who acted out of ignorance, even though some may claim he is an adult,” she remarked.
Saying that the experience had already taught her a lesson, she continued to beg for his release.
“He has apologized after realizing that what he did was wrong. I’m pleading with you to drop the complaint so he can return home,” she continued.
The case is a part of a larger dispute involving arrests connected to the dissemination of a fictitious divorce suit involving Elumelu and his spouse.
Elumelu is the chairman of the United Bank for Africa, which had previously rejected the allegation as untrue and malicious. The bank 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,” United Bank for Africa stated in a statement.
