The Federal High Court in Kaduna has convicted former Nigerian soldier Ruth Ogunleye over defamatory TikTok publications against the Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Major General Oluyemi Thomas Olatoye, sentencing her to two years in prison and a fine of ₦500,000.
However, the court suspended the custodial sentence for three years under a plea bargain agreement, subject to Ogunleye’s compliance with several conditions, including a public apology, deletion of the publications and a lifetime undertaking not to make further statements about the senior military officer.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Rilwanu Aikawa of Court One, Federal High Court, Kaduna Judicial Division, following an agreement reached between the prosecution and the defendant under Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
Ogunleye was initially arraigned on a five-count charge instituted by the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, over alleged defamatory videos circulated through her TikTok account, @ogunleyeruthsavage, on or about August 14, 2026.
The prosecution accused her of intentionally transmitting and publishing videos containing allegations against Olatoye, knowing them to be false and intending to cause annoyance, insult, injury, hatred, ill will and damage to his reputation.
One of the charges concerned a TikTok video captioned, “Maj General Yemi Olatoye is responsible for my death”, in which she allegedly displayed the senior military officer’s photograph.
Another count involved a publication captioned, “I go post your oga own too, your oga own dey my phone,” in which she allegedly referred to the NDA commandant and made statements concerning him.
The five-count charge also contained allegations that Ogunleye claimed to possess intimate photographs of the senior military officer and threatened to publish materials concerning him.
The offences were brought under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, as amended by the Cybercrimes Amendment Act 2024, and punishable under Section 24(2) of the Act.
However, following negotiations between the prosecution and defence, Ogunleye pleaded guilty to Counts One and Two, while the prosecution agreed to withdraw Counts Three, Four and Five.
Under the plea bargain agreement filed before the court, she was sentenced to a fine of ₦250,000 on each of the two counts, bringing the total to ₦500,000 in favour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
She also received a one-year custodial sentence on each count, with the terms ordered to run concurrently, amounting to two years in prison.
The court, however, suspended the custodial sentence for three years, subject to her compliance with the conditions contained in the agreement.
Among the conditions, Ogunleye is required to demonstrate remorse and undertake not to engage in similar conduct again.
She is also required to publish a public apology in two national daily newspapers within 14 days of sentencing, in a form approved by counsel to the nominal complainant.
Another major condition prohibits her from making further statements, publications or communications concerning Olatoye, whether through spoken words, text messages, social media platforms or any other means.
The restriction also applies to communications made through another person or under any other name or account.
The agreement further prohibits her from contacting the senior military officer, directly or indirectly.
She is also required to delete, within 48 hours of her release from custody, all posts and videos concerning Olatoye from her TikTok accounts and any other accounts under her control.
She is equally prohibited from republishing or sharing the materials with anyone.
Paragraph Six of the agreement provides that any breach of the conditions contained in paragraphs Four and Five during the three-year suspension period could result in Ogunleye being brought back before the court to serve the suspended prison sentence in full, once the court is satisfied that a breach has occurred.
The agreement also provides that her undertaking not to make further publications about or contact the nominal complainant will remain binding for life.
During the proceedings, Justice Aikawa asked Ogunleye whether she understood and accepted the terms of the plea bargain. She consented to the agreement and to the issuance of a restraining order under Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, which is to remain in force until further order of the court.
Her defence counsel, I.S. Yahaya, subsequently endorsed the plea bargain terms.
Speaking after the proceedings, Mohammed Sani Katu, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who represented the nominal complainant, said the case was resolved through a plea bargain after the defendant’s lawyer approached the prosecution to negotiate an agreement.
Katu said the case initially involved five counts filed by the Inspector-General of Police following Ogunleye’s arrest.
“It is a matter between the Federal Police and Ruth Ogunleye. The matter has been trending on social media, as you can confirm,” he said.
According to him, the defence lawyer proposed an arrangement that would bring the proceedings to an end without the parties having to go through a full trial.
He said the negotiations resulted in a formal plea bargain under which the prosecution agreed to withdraw three counts in exchange for Ogunleye’s guilty plea to the remaining two.
“She pleaded guilty last week, and the matter was adjourned until today for parties to file what we call the plea bargain terms,” he said.
Explaining the sentence, Katu said the court imposed one year imprisonment on each of the two counts and a fine of ₦250,000 per count.
“Having pleaded guilty, she was sentenced to serve the prison time of one year each on the two counts and then to pay a fine of N250,000 on each count, cumulatively N500,000.
“Now, the sentence is suspended for three years so that we can put her under observation to see whether she will be remorseful. If within these three years she violates these terms, she will be brought back to serve the sentence,” he said.
Katu stressed that the suspension did not cancel the custodial sentence, adding that Ogunleye remained bound by the conditions throughout the three-year period.
He also explained that the restrictions were intended to prevent a recurrence of the conduct that led to her prosecution.
“After these three years again, in order that she will just go scot-free, the whole terms of the plea bargain will now also come into place that she should not do anything that has to do with the nominal complainant,” he said.
The lawyer further argued that Ogunleye’s guilty plea meant she had admitted that the claims contained in the two TikTok publications were untrue.
“Don’t forget the charge, how it looks like. She said she has his pictures, she did whatever and so on and so forth.
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“Now, for her to have pleaded guilty means that all that she said in that TikTok is not true. And on that basis, she was convicted and judgment was delivered,” he said.
He maintained that any violation of the court-approved conditions could expose Ogunleye to the suspended custodial sentence, subject to the court determining that a breach had occurred.
