The chamber of Ibrahim Atanda and Co, legal practitioners, has demanded a retraction and public apology from the management of Vanguard Newspapers over the misrepresentation contained in the image of Nigeria’s Spelling Bee World Cup winners published by the newspaper.
The law firm, which claimed to be acting on behalf of one of the champions, Miss Maryam Yusuf and her mother, Mrs. Waliyah Adenike Akeju-Ahmed, specifically pointed to the absence of Miss Yusuf’s signature hijab in the evidently manipulated picture of her which was published by Vanguard.
The law firm however said it would seek no financial damage on behalf of its clients if Vanguard publishes the actual picture of the winning Nigerian team within 24 hours of receipt of the letter.
The letter reads in full:
21st July,2026
The Editor-in-Chief,
Vanguard Newspapers Online,
Vanguard Media Limited,
2,Vanguard Avenue,Kirikiri Canal,
Apapa,Lagos State.
Sir,
RE:DEMAND FOR THE IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF AI-GENERATED PICTURE IN The ARTICLE Titled “NIGERIAN STUDENTS EMERGE CHAMPIONS’AT 2026 SPELLING BEE WORLD CUP IN CHINA” PUBLISHED ON 21ST JULY, 2026
We are solicitors to Miss Maryam Yusuf and Mrs. Waliyah Adenike Akeju-Ahmed
hereinafter referred to as our clients on whose instructions we write.
Our clients have brought to our attention the publication appearing on your Online platform titled, “Nigerian Students Emerge Champions at 2026 Spelling Bee World Cup in China”, wherein an Artificial Intelligence (Al)-generated image was created and
published in purported representation of them without their knowledge, consent or authorization.
Whilst our clients appreciate Vanguard Newspaper’s decision to report the remarkable achievement of Team Nigeria at the 2026 Spelling Bee World Cup in Shanghai, China, they are deeply disturbed that your organisation elected to publish an Al-generated image depicting them rather than publish the exact photograph of them as it was taken.
Our clients are Muslims who observe the Islamic injunction of wearing the Niqab. Their religious convictions preclude them from permitting the publication of their facial representations. The publication of an Al-generated image purporting to represent them is therefore not only misleading and deceptive, it constitutes a grave intrusion
into their rights to privacy, dignity and freedom of religion.
By creating and publishing an artificial likeness of our clients, your media outfit has falsely represented them to millions of readers worldwide and attributed to them appearances that are entirely false. Such conduct is ethically reprehensible at a time where Artificial Intelligence technologies are capable of manipulating identities.
Furthermore, our clients were neither consulted nor informed that such an image would be generated and published. At no time did they grant Vanguard Newspaper the permission to create, manipulate, generate or publish any image purporting to depict them.
The wrongful publication is further aggravated by the fact that the article concerns a minor who deserves protction from digital manipulation and unauthorized public representation.
Please be aware that the rights infringed by your publication include, but are not limited to the constutional right to dignity of the human person guaranteed under section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended), the constitutional right to privacy guaranteed under Section 37 of the constitution, the constitutional right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed under Section 38 of the Constitution, the right protecting an individual from false appropration of his or her identity, as well as the ethical obligations imposed upon media organisations to publish accurate and truthful representation of persons who are the subjects of their reports.
The publication has caused our clients considerable distress and has exposed them to adverse public attention. Accordingly, we hereby demand that the offending AI-generated image must be immediately removed from the publication and every other platform under your control within twenty-hour (24) hours of receipt of this letter. We further demand that your organisation publish an unreserved apology acknowledging that the image published was Al-generated and was neither supplied nor authorized by our clients.
Our clients are not, at this Juncture, disposed to making any monetary claim for damages as they understand that your media outfit intended to celebrate their remarkable achievement, albeit in a manner that has unfortunately caused them considerable distress. However, should you fail, refuse or neglect to comply with the foregoing demands within the stipulated time, our Clients shall have no hesitation in pursuing all avallable legal remedies against your organisation, including a claim for substantial damages for the infringement of their constitutional and other legally protected rights.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
for: Ibrahim Atanda & Co.,
