The truth behind the arrest of Dr. Samuel Oyeyemi Agbeleoba was revealed on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at the Federal High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. The embattled journalist, Managing Director of Our People’s FM Radio and Lecturer at Ekiti State University, Dr. Agbeleoba, was arraigned on a two-count charge of Impersonation and Cyber-bullying.
Dr. Agbeleoba was arrested by officials of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday, February 11, over allegations of cyberbullying and impersonation. He is the brother of Mrs. Folasade Adebayo, who previously made headlines for accusing the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) of sexual harassment—an allegation she is yet to prove.
Thursday’s arraignment marked the second time Dr. Agbeleoba appeared in court. The case has been adjourned to April 29, 2025, for further hearing.
Following his arrest, the Ekiti State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), represented by its state chairman, Mr. Kayode Babatuyi, had called on the DSS to release Agbeleoba unconditionally. Babatuyi also accused FUOYE’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, of orchestrating the journalist’s arrest. However, Thursday’s court proceedings revealed that Agbeleoba was arrested specifically on charges of impersonation and cyberbullying.
The coming days are expected to shed more light on the true motives behind Agbeleoba’s actions, particularly his alleged impersonation of security officials and cyberbullying of FUOYE staff members and sharing false information about FUOYE management on the social media. If found guilty of impersonation or cybercrime according to Section 484 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act respectively, Agbeleoba risk a jail term of 3 years and a fine of N10,000,000:00 naira only.
