For posting her “honest review” of the Nagiko Tomato Mix, a product of Erisco Foods Limited, the police have arrested Chioma Egodi Jnr., a popular Facebook user.
On September 17, Egodi Jnr. had made a post on her Facebook page, highlighting the high sugar content in the tomato paste and inviting her followers who might have used the same product to share their opinions.
“I went to buy tin tomatoes yesterday that I will use to make stew. I didn’t see Gino and Sonia, so I decided to buy this one (Nagiko). When I opened it omo! I decided to taste it. Sugar is just too much. Haa biko (please) let me know if you have used this tin tomato before because this is an ike gwuru (tiring) situation,” Egodi Jnr. had posted on Facebook.
Two days later, Egodi Jnr. insinuated in another Facebook post that a group of people had privately bombarded her with accusations of attempting to harm their brother’s business.
In a statement by Erisco Foods Limited, as revealed on its page, the company said it had decided to “bring the said Egodi Jnr.’s Fcaebook post to the attention of the relevant authorities.”
The company also accused the Facebook user of telling her followers to avoid the tomato paste because it was “not fit for human consumption.”
On September 24, the Facebook user would inform her followers that men from the Ogudu Police Station in Lagos had just arrested her.
The arrest came after she had just completed a speaking engagement.
On Monday afternoon, Babatunde Irukera, the chief executive officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), confirmed that Egodi Jnr. was no longer at the Ogudu Police Station because the case had been transferred to the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The phone call and message sent to Erisco Foods Limited via the company’s ED, Mr. Nnamdi Umeofia to state their own side of the story had not been responded to at press time.