May Yul-Edochie, the estranged wife of Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie, has instituted a ₦1.5 billion lawsuit before the Lagos State High Court against Yinka Omolola Theisen, her former lawyer Emeka Ugwuonye, and several unidentified social media users over alleged cyberbullying, defamation and the unlawful disclosure of confidential information.
In the suit, May accused the defendants of orchestrating a sustained online campaign aimed at damaging her reputation through defamatory publications, harassment and the release of private information.
According to court documents, she is seeking orders directing the removal of the social media accounts and posts allegedly used to malign her character. She also wants the court to compel social media platforms to disclose the identities and user information of anonymous account operators to aid investigations.
In a 126-paragraph affidavit supporting the action, the claimant alleged that she had endured years of coordinated online attacks allegedly carried out by the defendants and operators of various blogs and Facebook pages.
She claimed the publications contained false allegations, manipulated photographs, insulting caricatures, AI-generated images, death wishes and other offensive materials designed to ridicule her and tarnish her public image.
May further alleged that despite serving legal notices on some of the defendants in 2025 demanding the removal of the disputed publications, the attacks persisted, with new social media pages allegedly created to continue the campaign against her.
The claimant also accused one of the defendants, whom she identified as her former lawyer, of breaching lawyer-client confidentiality by disclosing sensitive information entrusted to him during the course of legal representation and publishing materials she described as false, misleading and defamatory.
As part of the reliefs sought, May is demanding ₦1 billion in damages from Ugwuonye and ₦500 million from Theisen. She is also asking the court to order social media platforms to identify and release details of the anonymous individuals allegedly behind the online campaign.
Justice Abdul-Raheem Tejumade Muyideen has directed that the court processes be served on the defendants through all known contact channels. The matter was subsequently adjourned for a report on service.
