Court Sentences Samuel Adeyeye to Prison for False Death Claim about Simi’s Daughter Deja

Samuel Adeboye Adeyeye, known on X as @Swanky0001, was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday, May 15, 2026, after pleading guilty on May 14 to cyberbullying, cyber-threats, and cyber-harassment for posting a false claim that Deja, the five-year-old daughter of musicians Adekunle Gold and Simi, had died.

Samuel Adeboye Adeyeye posted “My sincere condolences to the Adekunle family. Rip to Deja,” on his X account in July 2025, falsely suggesting that Deja, the daughter of Afrobeats singer Simi, and her spouse, Adekunle Gold, had died. 

Despite widespread criticism and appeals from social media users to delete the post due to concerns over the child’s safety, Samuel refused to remove it. Investigators told the court that Samuel deliberately sustained the false narrative for about eight months in a bid to boost engagement and benefit financially from X’s ad-revenue sharing programme. 

The harassment campaign reportedly continued until March 2026, when security operatives arrested him.

Samuel Adeyeye pleaded guilty on May 14, 2026, to all charges. The presiding judge sentenced him to two years imprisonment on Count One for cyberbullying under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes Act 2024, two years imprisonment on Count Two for cyber-threats under Section 24(2)(i) of the Act, and one year’s imprisonment on Count Three for cyber-harassment under Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act. 

The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently and gave the convict an option of a ₦1 million fine. A permanent restraining order was also issued, barring him from further actions capable of damaging the reputation or peace of the complainants. 

The defence counsel had pleaded for leniency, citing Samuel Adeyeye’s age, health condition, and status as a first-time offender. The court did not accept the plea for leniency as grounds to reduce the sentence.