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Cybercrime Battle: Nollywood’s Angela Okorie Remanded Following Mercy Johnson Petition

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A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of actress Angela Okorie in Suleja Correctional Centre over alleged cyberstalking and criminal defamation.

Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order on Wednesday after Angela was arraigned on a three count charge filed by the Nigeria Police Force. The actress pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Her counsel, Alex Ejesieme, applied for bail, but the court declined and ordered that she be remanded pending the hearing of her formal bail application on January 30.

According to the charge, Angela allegedly conspired with one Ifeoma Mbonu, who is currently at large, to cyberstalk and defame fellow actress Mercy Johnson through posts on Instagram and TikTok.

The police alleged that the offences were committed in 2024 and contravened provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention, Etc) Act 2015.

Part of the petition written by Mercy Johnson’s lawyer accused Okorie of posting the following statement online:

“Blood sucking demon no see blood suck again, E say na slimming tea. Except there’s no God, MJ go and beg people you chop their destinies and destroyed their hornes else no peace for the wicked!!! Gospel songs won’t save you. Your heart Is Dark!!!”

The petition stated that the publication was intended to cause serious reputational damage and emotional distress. It added that the post was meant to “incite hatred, provoke unrest among the public and further harass and emotionally traumatize our client.”

Prosecuting counsel Victor Okoye asked the court to remand Angela and fix a date for trial. He argued that the administrative bail earlier granted to the actress had lapsed following her arraignment.

Ejesieme told the court that the actress was not given enough time to prepare for her defence, adding that she was served the charge shortly before proceedings began. He also said she was not previously informed about the case before being brought from Lagos to Abuja.

Justice Nwite held that the court could not entertain an oral bail application and ordered both parties to file and exchange all necessary documents within 24 hours. He then ordered that Angela be remanded in Suleja Prison pending the bail hearing.

Angela was arrested on Tuesday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force Cybercrime Centre at her residence in Lagos. She was detained overnight at the Yaba Police Station before being taken to Abuja for arraignment.

The case follows a long running public dispute between Angela and Mercy Johnson, which has played out on social media over the years with several exchanges and allegations.

Neither Angela nor Mercy has issued an official statement since the court proceedings.

 

 

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Toyin Abraham’s ‘Oversabi Aunty’ Hits ₦1 Billion Milestone At West African Box Office

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Toyin Abraham’s first directorial debut ‘Oversabi Aunty’ surpasses 1billion streams, grossing more than N1billion at Box Office earnings.

The milestone was announced by Filmone Entertainment, the film’s distributor, via its Instagram handle @filmoneng.

“First Nollywood directorial debute to hit 1billion, and 4th highest grossing Nollywood film of all time.

“West Africa, this is a full celebration. World best for a reason, and Oversabi Aunty is still showing in the cinemas worldwide”.

Reacting to the achievement, Abraham took to her Instagram page @toyin_abraham to show appreciation to God, her crew and her fans for the support.

“Thank you God, Toyintitans, Nigerians, my casts, crew, Filmone, and everyone that has collaborated in making the movie a success.

“I am short for words. My first directorial debute on the big screen. Oversabi Aunty to the world and still showing in the cinemas near you,” Abraham said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ‘Oversabi Aunty’ was released in the cinemas across Nigeria on Dec. 29, 2025.

Directed by Toyin Abraham, in collaboration with Filmone Studios, the film features star studded cast like Ngozi Ezeonu, Queen Nwokoye, Jemena Osunde, Mike Ezuruonye, Toyin Afolayan, Emeka Okoye, and Femi Adebayo.

The film follows the story of Toun, a self-righteous church usher who is obsessed with fixing others and turns family life into a battlefield.

The comedy drama is a masterpiece about faith; however, it is filled with family tension, humour, drama, everyday life situations and the fine line between devotion and delusion. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Wizkid Becomes First African Artist To Enter Spotify’s 10 Billion Streams Elite

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Nigerian superstar Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid has officially made history as the first African artist to surpass 10 billion streams on Spotify across all credits.

 

This milestone cements his legacy as the leading figure in the global expansion of Afrobeats, having been the first African artist to reach every billion-stream threshold on the platform (from 1 billion to 10 billion).

 

The Ojuelegba crooner achieved the feat as his streams across all credits on the platform recently hit the 10 billion-stream mark.

 

His collaborative hit with Canadian superstar Drake and British singer, Tyla is his most streamed song on the platform with almost 4 billion streams.

 

His third studio album, ‘Made In Lagos Deluxe’ is his most streamed project on Spotify with over a billion streams.

 

Wizkid’s most streamed song as lead is ‘Essence’ featuring Tems, which has amassed over 333 million streams.

 

Meanwhile, American singer Billie Eilish’s ‘Birds Of A Feather’ has surpassed Tones and I’s ‘Dance Monkey’ as the most streamed solo song by a female artist in Spotify history.

 

‘Birds Of A Feather’ recently hit 3.37 billion to surpass ‘Dance Monkey’, which has 3.3 billion streams.

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Funke Akindele’s Behind The Scenes Becomes West Africa’s All-Time Box Office King

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Actress and producer Funke Akindele has officially shattered box office records once again. Her latest film, Behind The Scenes, has surpassed her previous work to become the highest-grossing film of all time in West Africa.

 

The film reached this historic milestone after crossing the ₦1.77 billion mark at the box office in early January 2026.

 

This is according to box office performance data from cinema distributors and industry trackers across the region.

 

The development shows the growing commercial power of locally produced films and Funke Akindele’s continued dominance as Nollywood’s most bankable filmmaker.

 

The film’s record-breaking run comes after weeks of sustained audience turnout, strong word-of-mouth, and consistently high weekly grosses, positioning it ahead of Akindele’s previous blockbuster, Everybody Loves Jenifa, which ended its theatrical run at about N1.8 billion.

 

What the data is saying

Available data shows that Behind The Scenes has already recorded a cumulative box office gross of approximately N1.77 billion as of the last weekend in cinemas.

 

The movie also posted a historic N129.5 million single-day gross on Boxing Day, one of the highest ever recorded in Nollywood history.

 

In terms of audience turnout, the film leads West Africa’s 2025 admissions ranking with 223,768 admissions between January 1 and December 31, 2025 (not calculating spillover numbers in 2026 yet. This places it well ahead of Everybody Loves Jenifa, which recorded 148,863 admissions within the same period. The numbers reflect not just higher ticket prices, but a significantly larger cinema-going audience.

 

More context from the box office

Beyond becoming the region’s highest-grossing film, Behind The Scenes is also the highest-grossing movie of 2025 so far. It represents Funke Akindele’s third N1 billion film, an achievement that remains unprecedented in Nollywood.

 

The film features an expansive, star-studded cast including BBNaija stars Wanni x Handi, Uche Montana, Scarlet Gomez, Tobi Bakre, Uzor Arukwe, Vee, Mr Macaroni, Ini Dima-Okojie, Iyabo Ojo, Ibrahim Chatta, Dele Odule, Destiny Etiko, Kamo, Afeez Oyetoro, and Ejiro Onojafe. Its broad appeal across demographics helped sustain momentum weeks after release.

 

The success of Behind The Scenes reinforces Nollywood’s transition into a data-driven, big-budget industry capable of delivering consistent theatrical returns. Funke Akindele previously disclosed that the film’s production budget was close to N1 billion, highlighting the growing scale and financial risk of modern Nigerian filmmaking.

 

What you should know

Nairametrics has consistently reported on the rise of billion-naira Nollywood films and Funke Akindele’s outsized influence on the box office. The actress-producer had earlier warned fans against sharing pirated cinema recordings, emphasizing how piracy directly threatens film profitability.

 

Behind The Scenes had shown strong box office momentum from its opening weekend. Funke Akindele’s latest film recorded over N200 million in box office revenue during its first weekend in cinemas, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend of 2025, according to figures released by FilmOne Entertainment, the film’s West African distributor.

 

The movie, which debuted in cinemas on December 12, attracted 34,548 admissions between December 12 and 14, setting multiple opening-weekend benchmarks in the Nigerian film market. Within just two weeks of release, the title crossed the N500 million mark at the Nigerian box office.

Its momentum continued across the region, as Behind The Scenes surged past N1.1 billion at the West African box office just 17 days after release, becoming the fastest film in the region’s history to cross the billion-naira threshold.

 

 

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