The Nigeria Police Force has Detained Gistlover…or Not!

Confidence UbaniJanuary 6, 20242 Mins read223

In an amusing buildup of events, the renowned microblog Gistlover has become one of the hottest social media gists for Nigerians. The plot unfolded when its counterpart @lindaikejiofficial broadcasted news of the supposed apprehension of a trio masterminding the Gistlover blog.

According to Linda Ikeji’s report, the National Cybercrime Center of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has apprehended three individuals suspected to be linked to Gistlover on charges of conspiracy, cyberstalking, and threats to life. The arrest followed a filed report from Hon. and Dr Mrs Oluseyi Oladejo. Adebukola.

In an official statement by the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police allege that the blog has been a source of public outcry due to its involvement in cyberstalking, incitement, blackmail, and other illegal activities. At the heart of the matter are Adebukola Kolapo, Nnedum Micheal Somtomchukwu, and Isaac Akpokighe -aged 27, 25, and 30, respectively. The trio is said to be responsible for the daily running of the Gistlover blog, as such they were detained and paraded.

The police statement reads in part: “Upon arrest, the suspects revealed their various degrees of involvement in the conspiracy, corroborating the already available overwhelming evidence. The first suspect Adebukola Kolapo a.k.a Omo oba Gistlover was responsible for the creation of over 80 percent of the Gistlover pages + thereby lending his digital footprint for the perpetration of the aforementioned criminal act”.

“Being on the payroll of the said platform and having enjoyed incentives like car gifts and monies, Adebukola was saddled with the responsibility of scouting, editing, and captioning content including the cyberstalking post made against the complainant, Hon. and Dr. Mrs Oluseyi Oladejo. Adebukola has also contributed to laundering monies obtained from the illegal scheme through various means.

“The second suspect, One Nnedum Somtochukwu also shared in the conspiracy wherein at every point the page was taken down for certain infractions and violation of policies at the instance of reports from Law Enforcement Agencies, the suspect using his platform will by all means redirect traffic to the new page, helping the blog to evade sanctions.

“Enjoying incentives like referrals for promotions from the head of the syndicate, Nnedum has also been found sharing content, feedback, and making defamatory remarks with the said head of the syndicate.

“The third suspect, Isaac Akpokighe a 30 years old male resident of Igando Lagos State unlike the duo above, is like hundreds of Nigerians who, having observed the lucrative nature of the Blackmailing, cyberstalking, and false information market, decide to imitate the Gistlover blog. By doing so, he created several such pages and mirrors the activities of the blog including reposting the defamatory and life-threatening post against the complainant and many other notable Nigerians. Digital forensics led to the recovery of four gistlover pages created by Isaac Apkokogho.”

ACP Adejobi said that the suspects will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of the investigation. It does not seem like there is so much to investigate because Gistlover has responded to the statement. In a climactic comeback, Gistlover disputed the police’s claims. Through its Instagram page, the blog asserted that those paraded by the police were not its operators and challenged security operatives to provide evidence linking them to Gistlover.