Lagos Police Arrest Social Media Influencer ‘Witch of China’ Over Alleged Cyberbullying, Defamation of Vendors
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested 22-year-old social media influencer and Chinese translator, Shalom Daisy Daniels, popularly known as “Witch of China,” over allegations of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, defamation and orchestrating coordinated online attacks against business owners and their brands.
LAGOS — The Lagos State Police Command has arrested 22-year-old social media influencer and Chinese translator, Shalom Daisy Daniels, widely known as “Witch of China,” following allegations of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, defamation and coordinated online attacks against vendors and their businesses.
The arrest followed complaints from several business owners who accused Daniels of using her social media platforms to target vendors, damage their reputations and mobilise online followers to report their business accounts.
Sources familiar with the investigation disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr. Fatai Tijani, directed the transfer of the case from the Langbasa Police Division in Eti-Osa to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for a more comprehensive investigation.
The matter is currently being handled by the Cybercrime Unit of the SCID under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the department, Mr. Soledayo Akinbisehin.
A police source revealed that investigations commenced after multiple complaints were received from vendors who alleged that coordinated online attacks led to the suspension or removal of their social media business accounts.
One of the complainants, Jennifer Ojubu, a businesswoman and importer, alleged that her troubles began after she defended another vendor who had been criticised by Daniels over the pricing of imported products.
According to Ojubu, Daniels subsequently focused attention on her business while she was in China, comparing her product prices with those available on Chinese e-commerce platforms and portraying her as dishonest.
She further alleged that Daniels encouraged members of the public to join her importation group for a fee of N3,000, promising access to cheaper products while depicting local vendors as exploitative.
Ojubu claimed that Daniels repeatedly referred to her as a thief on social media and used screenshots obtained from her pre-order group to create content targeting her business.
The importer also alleged that Daniels' followers repeatedly reported her social media accounts, resulting in the loss of business pages with thousands of followers.
“I am a single mother. My business pages are where I earn my livelihood. They want to bring me down,” Ojubu said.
Another complainant, Adeshina Adenike, Chief Executive Officer of Hofkluze, accused Daniels of using her videos without permission, publicly branding her a thief and sharing her personal information online.
Adenike alleged that after requesting the removal of the videos, Daniels threatened to destroy her brand.
She further claimed that she later discovered a group allegedly linked to Daniels in which about 15 vendors’ business accounts were listed for mass reporting, resulting in the suspension of some pages.
According to Adenike, one of her business pages, which had been built over eight years, was taken down, while other accounts had to be restricted to prevent further attacks.
The complainants said the alleged online campaigns caused significant financial losses and disrupted their businesses.
However, Daniels denied orchestrating attacks against any vendor, insisting that her activities were aimed at promoting consumer awareness and exposing alleged overpricing practices.
She maintained that she merely highlighted price disparities between products sold by some Nigerian vendors and those available from suppliers in China.
Daniels also admitted creating a WhatsApp group after her own social media accounts were suspended but denied instructing members to report or harass vendors online.
According to her, she only encouraged supporters to “say hello” to the vendors and never directed them to engage in coordinated attacks against business accounts.
Police sources said investigations are ongoing and that Daniels, along with any accomplices identified during the probe, would be charged in court upon the conclusion of the investigation.
The Lagos State Police Command has yet to issue an official statement on the matter as of the time of filing this report.
No comments