- Safiu Kehinde
A Nigerian lady who accused a Singapore-based Nigerian footballer, Victor Ebele, of raping her has recanted her allegation after one year.
The lady, identified as Chioma Ononiwu, had on Tuesday issued both a written and oral statement debunking the allegations while seeking forgiveness from Ebele and his family after being dragged to court.
According to reports, Ononiwu was arrested last week Wednesday and charged to court.
She was remanded before being granted bail.
In the video statement released days after being granted bail, the lady admitted falsely accusing Ebele of raping her in the series of posts she shared on her now deactivated X handle in August 2025.
She also debunked the allegations she made against the footballer’s brother and his family.
‘Sometimes, last year August 2025, Imade a post on my X platform, accusing Victor Ebele Junior for raping me.
‘Along the line, I kind of also implicated his brother, Frank Ebele, and his entire family on something they knew nothing about.
‘Honestly, there was literally so much going on then. I was quite emotional at that time and I took laws into my hands, coming online to falsely accuse him for rape.
‘Victor did not rape me. He is not a rapist neither is his brother involved in anything that happened between both of us.’ She said in the now viral video.
Ononiwu further urged bloggers who circulated the rape allegation to pull down the posts as she reiterated that Ebele never raped her.
She expressed regret over her action as she apologised to the Ebele family.
‘Please I will like to implore bloggers that put the post on their pages to kindly take down the posts because I’m coming out to debunk every statement and allegations I made against Victor Ebele Junior.
‘He didn’t rape me. He is not a rapist. I’m really sorry for also dragging his family into mix.
‘They didn’t know anything that happened between the both of us and they didn’t deserve to be dragged online. Please I’m really sorry. I regret my actions.’ She said.
In the written statement she earlier issued, Ononiwu claimed to have wrongfully accused Ebele out of fear as she alleged being pregnant.
She however did not state if the footballer was responsible for the pregnancy.
The lady also apologised to the Nigerian Police Force for dragging them into the case as she had in one of the old posts accused police officers of assaulting her when she went to report the rape allegation to them.
‘At the time, I was going through an extremely difficult and frightening period in my life. I was pregnant, overwhelmed by fear, and deeply afraid that I would be left to face the pregnancy and everything that came with it alone.
‘I was under immense emotional stress and did not handle the situation in the right way. While I understand that my circumstances do not excuse what I did, I want to sincerely acknowledge that I allowed fear, confusion, and emotional distress to influence my actions and decisions.
‘I deeply regret accusing Victor of rape and the consequences that followed from that accusation. I am also sincerely sorry for defaming his character and for any harm, humiliation, or distress that my words and actions caused him personally, as well as his family.
‘I would also like to sincerely apologize to the Nigerian Police Force for the disrespect, disruption, and unnecessary burden that my actions may have caused.
‘I recognize the seriousness of involving the police in such matters and regret any inconvenience or difficulty that resulted from my actions.’ She wrote.
While raking responsibility for her actions as she apologised to the Ebele family, the confession video had sparked outrage from netizens who charged the family not to withdraw the suit against Ononiwu.
They also called for her prosecution by the police.