The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center has apprehended three individuals linked to the notorious Gistlover blog.
The suspects, identified as Adebukola Kolapo, Nnedum Micheal Somtomchukwu, and Isaac Akpokighe, were arrested following a petition from Hon and Doctor Mrs Seye Oladejo.
The Gistlover family syndicate, responsible for running the contentious microblogging platform, has long been a source of public concern due to its involvement in cyberstalking, incitement, blackmail, and other illicit activities.
Adebukola Kolapo, also known as Omo oba Gistlover, played a pivotal role in the syndicate. Responsible for creating a majority of the Gistlover pages, he used his digital prowess to facilitate cyberstalking against victims, including the complainant, Hon. and Dr. Mrs. Oluseyi Oladejo.
Adebukola’s involvement extended to scouting, editing, captioning content, and laundering money derived from the illicit activities.
Digital forensic analysis led to the recovery of eight Gistlover pages created under Adebukola’s direction, along with wallet addresses implicated in money laundering.
The second suspect, Nnedum Somtochukwu, contributed to the conspiracy by redirecting traffic to new Gistlover pages whenever the platform faced removal due to policy violations. Nnedum, enticed by incentives such as referrals for promotions, actively engaged in sharing defamatory content and feedback with the syndicate’s head.
Isaac Akpokighe, the third suspect, replicated the Gistlover blog’s model by creating multiple pages to imitate its activities. Digital forensics revealed his involvement in reposting defamatory and life-threatening content against the complainant and other prominent figures.
All three suspects will face charges in court upon the completion of the investigation.
Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun PhD, NPM, emphasizes the Force’s commitment to citizen safety in both physical and digital realms. He warns against partnerships that support illegal activities by blogs like Gistlover..
