Erisco Food, makers of Nagiko Tomato Paste, has stated the reason why the company decided to arrest Chioma Egoji, a Facebook user who had published a negative review o the paste.
Nnamdi Nwokolo, the spokesperson of the brand of tomato, which is currently causing a stir on social media, confirmed that the company wrote a petition to the police to investigate the claims, adding that the allegations were serious.
He said, “The allegations were grave, so we petitioned the police to investigate the matter. So if the police find criminal defamation against Chioma Egodi and then arrest her, is it a crime that we sought the law?”
A copy of the petition, dated September 19, 2023, and addressed to the Inspector-General of Police was titled, “Complaint of criminal conspiracy, the marketing and blackmail of killing people with our product against an organised syndicate faking our products after failing to extort money from us and cyberbullying.”
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The petition read, “We write to seek your urgent intervention in stopping an organised criminal syndicate that has been faking our products as well as posting false and unsubstantiated information that cannot be proven against our products both online and offline, with a view to close down our operations so as to give advantage to their cohorts, including greedy manufacturers and importers of substandard products into the country.”
On how the issue started, Nwokolo said, “She made a post on social media, a review. Further engagement under that review showed that it wasn’t an honest review. It showed that there was an attempt to bring down the product.
“Someone in her comment section asked her why she did the review, and she responded by saying that person should go talk to her brother (Erisco Food) to stop killing people.
“She made so many allegations, and attempts to get her to share more details about the product failed. So many people in her comment section asked her to share these details: production date, among other details, were requested, but she refused to provide them.”
When asked if the company had contacted Egodi at any point, Nwokolo said, “Personally, no.
“We released a statement and tagged her in it saying these allegations are grave, and we will take further steps to get to the root of things,” Nwokolo said.