A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed April 29 for the arraignment of Tracynither Ohiri, a woman facing a sweeping 13-count charge of cyberstalking and defamation against the minister of works, David Umahi.
Justice James Omotosho set the new date on Friday after prosecution counsel Wisdom Madaki appeared before the court without his client in tow, requesting a short adjournment because efforts to formally serve Ohiri with the charge and hearing notice had, so far, come to nothing.
It was not the first time the matter had stalled at the starting block. On April 16, Justice Omotosho had issued a stern warning, threatening to strike out the charge entirely after the prosecution again failed to produce Ohiri for arraignment. Friday’s proceedings suggested that patience on the bench is wearing thin.
When the case was called, the courtroom was conspicuously empty of both the defendant and her legal representative. Madaki stepped forward to explain, but the judge was in no mood for vague assurances.
“What effort have you made? Don’t just come to tell me you have made all efforts. You cannot abandon your case here,” Justice Omotosho said pointedly, demanding a specific account of the steps taken.
Madaki then disclosed that the investigating police officer and his team had traveled from Abuja to Lagos State on April 20 in an attempt to physically serve the defendant.
“But my lord, they could not see the defendant. They said her door was locked. They even spent three days in Lagos, my lord,” Madaki told the court.
Satisfied, if not entirely convinced by the explanation, Justice Omotosho granted the adjournment, fixing April 29 as the next date for Ohiri’s arraignment.
The charges against Ohiri, filed on March 31, 2026, and marked FHC/ABJ/CR/172/2026, paint a picture of a years-long campaign of alleged online publications targeting Umahi across multiple social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, and the online news outlet Sahara Reporters.
The prosecution, led by Madaki from the Directorate of Legal Services at the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, alleges the offenses span from as far back as October 2023 to as recently as February 2026.
In Count One, Ohiri is accused of posting a TikTok video on or about October 16, 2023, in which she allegedly claimed that Umahi threatened to kill her if she entered Ebonyi State — a statement the prosecution says she knew to be false and was calculated to cause fear and reputational damage.
Perhaps the most politically charged allegations appear in Counts Three and Four. The prosecution alleges that in a March 2024 TikTok video, Ohiri accused Umahi of victimizing her after she refused his sexual advances and of using his ministerial office to oppress women.
In a separate post that follows, she allegedly claimed that Umahi had deliberately tied down her business capital for ten years as punishment for the same refusal accusations the prosecution says were knowingly false.
Count Six concerns a statement published on Sahara Reporters in March 2025, in which Ohiri allegedly claimed Umahi owed her over ₦200 million for campaign materials, a claim prosecutors say she knew to be untrue. Count Seven ties directly to this, alleging she framed the non-payment as retaliation for rejecting his advances.
In Count Eight, Ohiri is accused of streaming a press conference via her Facebook page in February 2026 in which she allegedly stated that Umahi had threatened to ensure she would “not leave Ebonyi State alive,” invoking, prosecutors allege, a chilling reference to what “happened to the NELAN Engineers.”
Count Ten goes further still, accusing Ohiri not merely of making the publications but of deliberately amplifying their reach, causing them to be widely shared, reposted, and circulated across platforms with the stated intent of causing hatred, ill will, and reputational injury to the minister.
All charges are brought under Section 24(2)(c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
The case arrives at a moment of heightened scrutiny over the use of Nigeria’s cybercrime laws, particularly against individuals who make public allegations against government officials.
Critics have long raised concerns that such provisions can be wielded to silence dissent or punish whistleblowers, while authorities maintain the laws are necessary to curb malicious and damaging online speech.
Ohiri has not yet entered a plea, and as a matter of law, she is presumed innocent of all charges. Her side of the story remains unheard in court and will remain so until she appears before Justice Omotosho.
Whether that happens on April 29 will depend, in no small part, on whether police can locate a woman whose door, they say, was locked when they came knocking in Lagos.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
A Nigerian woman, Tracynither Ohiri, faces a 13-count cyberstalking and defamation charge for allegedly publishing false and damaging claims against Works Minister David Umahi across TikTok, Facebook, and Sahara Reporters—accusations ranging from death threats to sexual harassment and unpaid debts of over ₦200 million.
The case has repeatedly stalled because prosecutors cannot locate her to serve court papers, prompting a visibly frustrated Justice Omotosho to warn that the charge risks being struck out.
April 29 is the next critical date. What makes this case significant beyond its headlines is the tension it exposes between Nigeria’s cybercrime laws and the right to free expression, raising the uncomfortable question of whether those laws protect reputations or silence them.
