Linda Ikeji's Blog Restored, Find Out Shocking Reason It Was Taken Down

Linda Ikeji’s blog was taken down by Google a few days ago due to claims of copyright infringement. Why were there claims against her in the first place? It’s implied that some hackers under the direction of one Mr. Aye Dee were to blame.

Read what linda wrote below.

My understanding of plagiarism is when you take someone’s work and republish it verbatim as your own work. I don’t do that. But if I have ever done that in the past then I apologize. It was an oversight. I do get a lot of original content, way more than any other blogger in this country. Some of the biggest news stories in this country in recent times was broken by LIB. From Goldie’s death (God rest her soul) Aluu4, ABSU rape, P-Square saga, Solomon Akiyesi and plenty more. And when I take news from other sources, I always credit them. When I don’t give credit is when the news is everywhere so I write it in my own words and make it mine. I don’t believe that is a crime. I admit that I have used photos without giving credit. I apologize. That will never happen again. You learn every day. And I have learnt from this.   

Now about Mr Aye Dee. Let me start from the very beginning so you guys understand what really happened. Like I said earlier, this was not about copyright or plagiarism. It was personal. Very personal. In 2009 or 2010…(not sure) a guy named Alex who used to run 1976AD blog contacted me. He said he was impressed with my work and wanted to encourage me to never relent. Alex Info 1976AD (how I knew him back then) and I became very good friends online. In fact he was my confidant. Every time I had questions or challenges, I would reach out to him. 

By 2011, Alex 1976AD and I became quite close…online. We even exchanged numbers and spoke a few times. He always reminded me how proud of me he was. He told me I would one day become a phenomenon. I wasn’t number one at the time but he told me that I would one day be the biggest news site in Nigeria…that he believed in me that much. He was my friend, my supporter; he sent me news to post on my blog. He wanted me to succeed. He told me things to do to get more readers. He knew a lot about the internet and how it works so I always went to him for advice. He was my anchor.

In 2011, Alex 1976AD made me his blog’s Person of the Year 2011. I shared that post excitedly on my blog. He said I was the most deserving Nigerian for the award that year…and he wrote the most beautiful article about me. He was so proud of me…and never hesitated to tell me. I was grateful. I was happy to have him as a friend...even though we'd never met.

Then we stopped talking. I sincerely can’t remember when exactly. I know that Alex 1976AD tried to reach out to me mid last year…but I can’t remember if I responded. If I didn’t, it was an oversight. I’m really bad at replying mails because I get so many and I’m always busy blogging…but anyway.

On Wednesday around 2.07pm…my long lost friend Alex Info 1976AD contacted me via gmail chat. I was so happy when I saw his name pop up. I was like yay…Alex 1976AD! He would know what I should do in this situation. I thought he was reaching to me after all this while because he’d seen all the craziness going on and wanted to lend support…but what he said to me next shocked me to my bone marrow. He said ‘I hope u’re sitting down’. Thankfully I was because I would have literally fallen if I hadn’t been sitting.

You see, my good friend and biggest supporter Alex 1976AD told me he was Mr Aye Dee. The same guy who started this. The guy that got Google to shut down my blog. It wasn’t about plagiarism or copyright infringement…it was about a scorned former friend. It was about love turning to hate because he felt I’d abandoned him after I became big. Please patiently read our chat below… 

The last time he tried to contact me was on July 12th 2013...before reaching out again on Wednesday

 

 

I will copy and paste the convo from here on because it's quite long. Linda Ikeji is – me: Alex Info 1976AD/Mr Aye Dee is – info

info: I assumed you knew and were just forming 

me:  are u for real or ur just messing with me???

me: u are aye dee?

me: the person I thought respected me the most?

info:  I do

me:  u gave me woman of the year

info: Yes

me:  are u for real?

info:  that is why I was confused when I sent messages and you ignored all of them

info: I was like what have I done to this woman

info: I have helped all I can

info: and now she is doing like I am a non-existing entity because of a simple request

 me:  are u for real though???

 info:  100%

 me:  my heart is beating so fast

 me: it can't be u

 info:  As mine has been for over a week

info: when I spoke to Ohimai, I even told him

info: that I know her we've worked together but she's ignoring me

 me:  ignore u?

 info:  I really thought success had gone to your head

 info: Yes

info: I sent you email

info: sent tweets

info: all ignored

 me:  i never got any emails my goodness

 info:  sigh

 me:  why didn't u try to chat with me?

 me: i get hundreds of mails every day

 info:  I wish I could tell you why, but it didn't cross my mind till just now

 me:  i don't read half of them

 info:  that maybe I need to go back to the account we've always used

 me:  i see alot in spam and junk

 info:  That's where mine probably is

 info: Funny thing is I realized I should use this account when someone I work with who knows how you and I have worked together said

 me:  i'm in shock

 info:  I know you and Linda manufactured this beef to make her more popular, cause there is no way you would ever do anything against her willingly

 me:  i don't do much gmail chatting

me: but immediately i saw ur address i was like yay! my old friend

 info:  lol

 me:  tot u were reaching out to me bcos of whats happening

 info:  I am

info: because it makes no sense

info: I don't want to destroy something I loved helping you build

info: Someone I've prayed for

info: and someone I still believe is going to be an icon for decades to come

me: my goodness

 info:  It's ok

info: No harm meant

info: All can be cleaned up

info: and have you emerge stronger

me: wow

me: so why did you decide to reach out?

info: Because I figured out

info: after I read the post from yesterday and this morning

info: there IS NO WAY this woman can write this if she knows its me

info: So had to go into this account and chat with you

info: and if you still didn't respond then I would know

info: Cause I saw my number there but the name of one of my partners

 me:  wow

 info:  I figured she must have forgotten that she's called me on this #

info: Yes o.

info: The whole thing has been very traumatic to say the least

info: not what was said, but whom it was said by

info: I've never publicly stated anything we've done together

info: because I didn't want it to seem like I'm guilt tripping you

info: but you can imagine what it felt like

info: especially when to add insult to injury, you unfriended and blocked me lol

info: I was like Dereisagodo

 me:  i didn't know who u were

me: u know what?

 info:  what?

me:  Recently I wondered what u think of me...wondered if u were still following my progress because u used to reach out a lot to me back then

 info:  I used to but you stopped responding

 me:  what u tot of how much I'd progressed

 me: i just wondered

 info:  I am VERY proud of you

  me:  wow!

 info:  Everything I told you will happen is happening

info: and it's about to get better

 me:  wow

me: i can't believe this

me: from love to hate?

 info:  Hate ke?

info: Never that

info: Can't happen

info: it's like hating one's own blood

info: all the stuff we've done together

info: not possible

 info: If nothing else

info: this has brought out your enemies

info:  I know them

 me:  but u are number one lol

me: i can't believe this

me: u started it

 info:  After I thought you ignored and ignored and ignored

 me:  i didn’t

 info:  I believe you

 me:  u gave me woman of the year

me: no one else has ever done that

me: why would i ignore u?

 info:  fame makes people do crazy things

 me:  i'm not one of those my goodness

 info:  I know you're not

 me:  i haven't changed

 info:  i believed in my heart you're not

 me:  I’m same girl just richer lol

me: wow

 info:  Yay

 me:  i swear i can't believe this

 info: You don't know how happy I am to hear this

info: A little part of me died when all this happened

info: I've truly never felt this level of betrayal

info: or (Perceived) betrayal

info: I was like how can Linda do this to me? A person who saw her future and committed to helping her attain it out of sheer belief in her, how can she turn me into god knows what

me: i wasn't even following u on twitter. i didn't see ur tweets. someone who helps me source for news might have taken the stuff from u

info: Same here, someone informed me and my partners

info: and they ran with it

info: as you know, I used to provide you with stuff

info: so you know personally I don't care

 me:  it was only when the rants started that i took note of the name mr aye dee

 info:  lol

me: I am shocked

info: I have never been so wrong about someone

info: I am truly sorry

info: I should have tried to reach out through third parties or through this

info: I messed up. All my fault

info: I hope you forgive me

 me:  so u thought i knew u were aye dee for real?

 info:  Of course

info: I've been following you since I opened my twitter account

info: then when we set up your blog-twitter I think I mentioned it

 me:  but I wasn't following u and i never tweeted at u

me: because i didnt know it was u

 info:  so I thought you knew but again, since last year when you became unreachable, I stopped trying, figuring you have grown the proverbial set of wings

 me:  i know u as info1976ad

me: no other name

 info:  Yes, realized that this morning

 me:  wow

 info:  Yes

info: Wow is correct

info: You know part of me never believed you could be the way it appeared you were

info: it just seemed crazy

 me:  u should have tried to reach out to me

me: through here

 info:  I did. email and twitter

info: I know

info: Entirely my fault

 me:  i always wondered what happened to u

 info: Last time we communicated

info: I think you were supposed to get in touch when you were in NYC

then you came, went, didn't hear from you

 me:  u were such a strong support system for me

 info:  reached out a few more times via this acct

info: No answer

info: Of course, always and anytime. You know I will always guide you right and assist in any way I can

info: I'm sure you've never doubted that

 info:  so

me:  so...

me: what do u want now?

 info:  Your continued success

info: Now that I've reached out and know this is a big misunderstanding

info: tell me what you want from me and I'll do it

info: no questions asked

me:  i'm confused

 info:  let me try and un-confuse you

 me:  ok

 info:  go on, ask away

 me:  i don't know what to ask again

me: im still in shock i swear

 info:  That's why I asked you to sit down

info:  I knew I had to when you responded

info: I was like oh crap, she really didn't know

info: What would you like me to do?

 me:  there’s nothing to be done

me: I’m happy u reached out

 info:  There's always something

info: PR crisis managers handle stuff like this daily

 me:  i will definitely unblock u now and follow u

me: lol

 info:  Hahaha

info: how about we do this

 me:  but don't worry everything will die down

 info:  we simultaneously post something

 me:  what?

 info:  I can handle the heat

info: Rest assured. You're the one I'm worried about

info: I post: @LindaIkeji and I had a huge misunderstanding as a result of miscommunication. It is over now, and our relationship is back to one of mutual respect and admiration.

info: actually for 160 characters: @LindaIkeji & I had an avoidable misunderstanding, it's now been resolved , & our relationship is back to 1 of mutual respect & admiration.

info: And we never speak of this again 

info: the new story will be how did they do it

info: and what happened

info: but we can keep them guessing forever

me:  wow

 info:  Crisis management 101

info: If we are united

info: what/whom is going to get between us? Our relationship predates "THE" Linda Ikeji afterall

 me:  what's ur real name?

 info:  whichever tweets of mine that you want me to yank, I shall

info: What do you think, do you even remember?

Info: Mukhtar Alexander Dan'Iyan

info: MrAyeDee

me:  oh dear Lord

me: i can't believe this

 info:  Once done, let's face those who are blackmailing you. We'll have none of that

info: Yes, neither can I. Save the story for your memoirs

info: which you know you are going to HAVE to write one day

info: you are an inspiration to many

 me:  so the reports to google will stop?

 info:  I'll ask my guys. They put requests in for my tweets that they say you took

info: At this end. Those who have been aggreived by you, I shall talk down. You might have to take some of their stuff down though

info: But if you want, I'll walk you through overcoming copyright challenges

info: I want you to be bulletproof for the next part of your journey

info: that of being an international conglomerate, Nigeria's first bonafide Multi Million $ web property

me:  after everything that happened now i'm wondering if i can trust u

 info:  Have I ever given you cause NOT to?

info: I believe in you

info: nothing can change that

 me:  u turned many people against me...in the last few days

me: so yes

 info:  Those who turned we can get back if need be. You will emerge stronger from this if you want, and I'll do all I can to assist you in this endeavor

info: I am emotionally vested in your success, I've been involved in your growth, nothing can change that

 info:  I've laid down all my weapons lol

info: Neutralized

me:  ok so

 info:  so?

 me:  dont even know what to write again

 me: lol

 info:  Hahahaha

info: what would you like the outcome of this discussion to be?

 me:  thank God i was sitting when u started chatting

 info:  Hahahahaha

info: smart move

me:  my goodness yesterday u were asking pple to submit their names for a lawsuit and today i find out its u?

 info:  A day is a long time in politics

info: I have partners

info: some of them are all business

info: Me, not so much when it comes to people I care about

info: if in this convo you had shown yourself to be incorrigible

info: then different story

info: but obviously this has been a huge huge misunderstanding

me:  so what do u suggest?

 info:  the above tweet simultaneously

info: and if you want, let me help you strategize on making the brand bullet proof

 me:  u want me to tweet too?

 info:  Has to be from both. And then we place a gag order on ourselves

info: if there are tweets you want me to remove

info: I shall

info: just point them out

 info:  This way all the haters/non haters/amebos/jjcs who want us to destroy each other will have no gasoline to pour on any fire

 me:  nah don't worry about the tweets

me: its ok

 info:  No. I have to

info: don't want to be an expressway to anything damaging to you

info: Linda that I know and Linda that I felt was aloof and inaccessible are two different people

 me:  i swear i wasn't bothered about what was being said...was just afraid of the blog being taken down cos i'm not so keen on getting a website

 info:  Of course

info: you know the LindaIkeji.net has been yours from day 1 right

 me:  didn't know that

 info:  Lol did you forget?

 me:  so what do u want me to tweet?

 info:  @LindaIkeji & I had an avoidable misunderstanding, it's now been resolved , & our relationship is back to 1 of mutual respect & admiration.

info: let me know when, so we can hit send simultaneously

info: of course let me know so I can refollow you

 me:  we will tweet same thing?

info: yes

info: and never speak on it again

info: I've seen enough pr done

info: to know this is the stuff that works

 me:  to be sincere i don't want to tweet anything. I never tweeted when everyone was talking...and i don't want to now

 info:  Yes

info: but to bury it

info: only way

info: after that return to silence

 me:  but i can acknowledge ur tweet

 info:  I shall in regards to this issue

info: yes

info: but if we want people to move on

 me:  u started it.

 info:  that's the best way

 me:  u end it

 info: I agree

info: I shall

info: but you are tweeting

 me:  i will acknowledge ur tweet

 info:  so they know you've moved on too

 me:  i will write something

me: but not same thing as urs

 info:  okay, but key is to do it in real time. and not to comment again on the issue

 me:  ive never commented on it on twitter

 info:  If we want this issue closed

info: yes I know

 me:  just the blog

 info:  but rest assured

info: eyes of nigeria are on me and you

info: some want us to kill ourselves sef

info: some want me to destroy you

info: literally

info: people are wicked

info: some of them are people you'd think are your friends

info:  Let me know when to re-follow and send

info: Speaking of losing your site, have you backed everything up?

 me:  not yet

 info:  What are you waiting for?

info: You're an enterprise

 info: Can you hire a writer?

 info: If you do s/he needs a crash course on summarizing news

info: or items that do not look like the original source

me:  i write alone

me: but will employ people soon

 info:  Hire someone

info: waste of your energy

info: you are a good business woman

info: not a darn writer

info: just my observation

info: am I still allowed to speak freely

me:  lol

me: whatever

 info:  What?

info: lol

info: can you get someone?

 me:  will do

 info:  Also

info: You need to place rotators (or whatever they are called) to rotate ads in and out. Right now your site is slower than 95% of the entire internet.

Info: Sooner rather than later that will start to take a toll

 me:  what's rotators?

 info:  An example:- http://www.codeitpretty.com/2013/08/blog-ad-rotator-with-html-and-javascript.html

info: everytime a page is refreshed a new ad appears in the placeholder

info: this makes your site super fast

info: assuming you use the right one

info: If you're using blogger what you do is:

info: Go to your blog layout screen.

info: 2. On whichever sidebar you would like your ads to show, click on "Add a Gadget" and select the HTML/JavaScript" gadget.

info: 3. Decide how you would like for your ads to display (either one after another or two side by side). You can see on the side of mine that they are just one after another.  This code is for one ad after the other, so if you want to display two columns of ads, make sure that your sidebar is wide enough for two ads plus a little extra room for the small space in between the ads. If you want them to display one after the other, then your sidebar just needs to be a little wider than one ad.

info: can walk you through if need be

me: my blog has been removed

info: when

me: just now

info: don’t panic

info: don’t hyperventilate either

info: we’ll get through this

info: if you want me to help you that is

info:  Ok, you there?

info: Ready?

 me:  yep

 info:  Ok domain

info: you still have the lindaikeji.net or you might have another

info: first things first

info: put out a tweet that you'll be back up within the hour though i a limited capacity

info: choose what domain you want to go with and let's point it to self hosted wordpress

info: blogger is proprietary

info: though any host can yank you, your domain self hosted takes a bit more time, gives a bit more wiggle room

info:  You there?

 me:  yep

 info:  Nervous?

info: Don't be

info: Ok so first decision

info: Tweet put out?

info: You need to define the story before blogosphere does

info: Tweet should say: The Linda Ikeji Blog shall be back shortly, thank you for your patience and understanding

info: Let me know when done

 me:  done

 info:  Super

info: next decision

info: what url?

 me:  every name i want has been taken

info:  Which names do you want?

Info: You're about to be bombarded by your advertisers. I want to avoid that

continuity is key

 me: lindaikeji.com, lindaikejiblog.com

 info:  Squatters

info: you'll pay a ton and won't happen immediately

info: next

info: We have to move fast

 info:  You there?

 me:  yep

 info:  Ok can you focus for the next 1 hour?

info: I know it's difficult, but I need you to

info:  Meanwhile I'll begin backing up your blog

info: from this end

info: t3 line

info: shall probably be able to salvage something

info: and you can repopulate with that later on

 me:  ok

 info:  ok to which one?

  me:  so u asked google to take my blog down?

 info:  Yes

info: I did

info: Hate me later

 me:  and they did without even talking to me?

 info:  Linda let's focus on the present and the future. Once you're up and running we can dissect the past

info: You there?

info: I promise you, you are coming back stronger than ever

info:  Best believe it, good or bad, I've never spoken anything into your life that hasn't come to pass.

Info: and I'm telling you now, your best is yet to come. What you made in a year, you'll be making in a day

Info: You will be a global media player

Info: Companies will offer to buy your brand for billions of US$, and you'll turn them down because you know better offers shall come

Info: the things I told you about in 2010, did they not start taking place?

me:  and then u tried to destroy it. I wish u had reached out to me earlier

info:  I swear I tried

info: But remember this

 me:  I feel like i truly lost a friend

 info:  hard as it may be to believe

 me:  i used to look forward to talking with u

 info:  and now I am back

 me:  i felt u had my back

 info:  not going anywhere except you say you are tired of me

info: I do

 me:  i could always run to u

 info:  You still can

info: I am back, I promise you I am

info:  I said this before, I'll say it again. I am still your #1 supporter

#1 fan and totally committed to your success

info: you there?

Yeah, well…that’s the shocking real story. I thought I was dealing with Emmanuel Efremov...didn't know it was someone from my past. Mr dear friend Alex 1976AD aka Mr Aye Dee wanted to be back in my life and he felt the best way to get my attention again was to shut down a blog I’ve slaved for almost eight years. And because he knew what to do and had the resources, he succeeded.

Below are his tweets last night after our chat…his tone completely changed.

I appreciate this. This is someone I used to love. Will always respect. I have absolutely nothing against him. At the end of the day he’s not an enemy…God used him to open my eyes. I’ll always be grateful.

I will like to say a big thank you to everyone who reached out, people who have shown concern, but most especially LIB readers. Your love and support has been overwhelming. Rest assured, I will never stop blogging. As long as I have breath in me…I will always be a blogger.