The family of an 18-year-old social media user and UTME candidate, Kingsley Akunemeihe, has appealed to billionaire businessman Tony Elumelu to forgive him following his arrest over a viral post alleging that the banker had divorced his wife.
In a video appeal shared on Sunday on her Instagram handle, the suspect’s sister, Ngozi Akunemeihe, said the teenager was picked up after sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter) that claimed Elumelu had divorced his wife, Awele.
According to her, the young man was arrested while returning home after sitting for his JAMB examination and has since remained in detention.
“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 said.
Ngozi explained that her brother wasn’t the author of the post in question but rather copied it from another user’s site and reshared it.
“He said he got it from another person’s handle and shared it with others. After sharing it, people called his attention to the fact that the post is fake and defamatory,” she said.
She stated that the adolescent eventually realized the post was incorrect and accepted responsibility by deleting it and offering an apology on his site.
“He acknowledged he did something wrong and apologized for it. His apology posts are still there on his handle,” she said.
Despite the apology, she stated that the young man was detained around ten days later and is still in detention at the State Criminal Investigation Department.
“He has been detained for over a week now,” she replied.
In her emotive appeal, Ngozi implored Elumelu to consider the suspect’s age and forgive 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,” she said.
She also pleaded for his release, saying the experience had already served as a lesson.
“He realized that what he did was not okay, and he has apologized. I am begging you to withdraw the complaint so that he can come back home,” she added.
The United Bank for Africa, where Elumelu is chairman, had previously denied the claim as baseless and malicious.
The bank argued that the disclosure was intended to mislead the public and destroy reputations.
In its statement, United Bank for Africa said, “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.”
UBA also acknowledged that security agencies had been alerted, and arrests had been made in connection with the incident.
“We confirm that three individuals directly connected to the creation and dissemination of these malicious falsehoods have been arrested,” it said.
