The police command in Lagos State has apprehended a 22-year-old social media influencer, popularly known as “the Witch of China,” over allegations of cyberbullying, defamation and orchestrating online attacks against vendors and their businesses.

The suspect was apprehended on Sunday, June 14 in Lagos, following complaints by some business owners.

The business owners accused her of targeting vendors and orchestrating coordinated attacks on their social media accounts.

A highly-placed police source said that the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, directed that the case be transferred from Langbasa Division, Eti-Osa, to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.

“Investigation into the allegations of defamation, cyberbullying and cyberstalking is being handled by the Cybercrime Unit of the SCID under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the department, Mr Dayo Akinbisehin.

“Investigations were launched after multiple complaints were received from affected vendors whose social media pages were allegedly taken down following coordinated online attacks,” the source added.

He said that one of the complainants, a businesswoman and importer, alleged that her ordeal began after she defended another vendor who had been criticised by the suspect over the pricing of imported products.

According to the businesswoman, the source disclosed, the suspect subsequently targeted her business during a trip to China by comparing her product prices with those on Chinese e-commerce platforms and portraying her as dishonest.

He noted that she alleged that the suspect encouraged people to join her importation group for a fee of N3,000 with promises of obtaining products at lower prices, while presenting vendors as exploitative.

The source added that the businesswoman further claimed that the suspect repeatedly referred to her as a thief online and used screenshots from her pre-order group to create content against her business.

“The complainant alleged that the influencer’s supporters repeatedly reported her social media pages, resulting in the loss of business accounts with thousands of followers,” he said.

The source quoted another complainant, the chief executive officer of Hofkluze, as alleging that the suspect used her videos without permission, publicly described her as a thief and shared her personal details online.

“She claimed that after asking the suspect to remove the videos, she was allegedly threatened with the destruction of her brand.

“She further alleged that she later discovered a group allegedly linked to the suspect where business accounts of about 15 vendors were listed for mass reporting, leading to the suspension of some pages.

“She said that one of her business pages, built over eight years, was taken down, while other accounts had to be placed on restriction to avoid further attacks,” the source added.

According to the source, the complainants said the alleged online attacks caused significant financial losses and disrupted their businesses.

He noted, however, that the suspect denied orchestrating online attacks, insisting that her activities were aimed at promoting price regulation and consumer protection.

He said the suspect maintained that she merely exposed alleged overpricing by some vendors and denied directing followers to report or harass anyone online.

He added the suspect admitted creating a WhatsApp group after her social media accounts were suspended but denied directing members to attack vendors, insisting that she only asked her supporters to “say hello” to them and not to report or harass their pages.

The police source said that investigations were ongoing and the suspect and her accomplices would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations

(NAN)