Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed an application filed by Ihuoma Julia Nneji, daughter of ABC Transport founder Chief Frank Nneji, seeking to set aside a warrant of arrest issued against her in connection with allegations of criminal defamation, injurious falsehood, and cyberstalking. Justice M. G. Umar, in a ruling delivered on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, found no merit in her application, emphasising that the court could not restrain the police from carrying out their statutory duties. The Nigeria Police Force had, on April 16, 2025, declared Ms Nneji wanted following a petition filed by Abuja-based lawyer, Barr. Henry Uzochukwu. The police alleged that Ms Nneji engaged in criminal defamation, injurious falsehood, and cyberstalking against the complainant. The warrant of arrest was issued in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/627/25 following a request by the Inspector General of Police. Ms Nneji had approached the court seeking to vacate the warrant, arguing that the allegations were baseless and part of a personal grudge held by her former fiancé, Henry Uzochukwu. However, in its ruling, the court held that the application lacked merit and declined to interfere with the powers of the Nigeria Police Force to carry out its statutory responsibilities. The court also ordered that the applicant should submit herself to the police for the continuation of the investigation. Consequently, the application was dismissed in its entirety. The implication of this latest decision is that the warrant of arrest issued and published against Ms Nneji on April 16, 2025, remains valid. The police are therefore authorised to arrest her wherever she may be found to answer to the petition against her. It remains to be seen whether Ms Nneji will voluntarily surrender herself to the authorities in compliance with the subsisting court order.
Ms Nneji, who is 34 years old, had earlier claimed that she was declared wanted by the police without any prior invitation or notification of a petition against her. In a statement she issued shortly after the police declared her wanted, she insisted she never defamed or blackmailed anyone on her verified social media pages or elsewhere. Instead, she claimed she was the victim of blackmail and threats from her former boyfriend, Henry Uzochukwu, the complainant in the case. According to her account, she met Henry Uzochukwu in April 2024, and they began a relationship. However, the conflict began in August 2024 when she called off their wedding, which had been scheduled for November 2024, due to unresolved issues regarding Uzochukwu's sexuality. She claimed she found incriminating evidence suggesting he was gay and decided not to proceed with the marriage. Further investigations, she said, revealed not only his interest in men but also that he had been engaged multiple times without disclosing the reasons for the failed marriages. She alleged that the woman he was to marry before her left him a week before the wedding over the same issue. "I was deceived and manipulated by the many lies he told," Ms Nneji said in her earlier statement. "After I canceled the wedding, he began to harass me, threatened my life, and falsely accused me of operating an Instagram page spreading rumors about him — a claim that is speculative and untrue." Ms Nneji has also been involved in other legal disputes. In February 2025, she sued popular social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, and others for alleged defamation.
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