Erisco foods insist to prosecute Chioma Okoli sake of tomato paste review as dem call first witness
Di court mata of Erisco Foods Limited and Mrs Chioma Okoli don finally start dis Wednesday bifor Justice Peter Lifu of di Federal High Court, Abuja.
Dis dey come two years afta di police bin arrest Mrs Okoli on 24 September, 2023, sake of say she bin do review on social media to tok say one tomato paste wey she buy dey too sugary.
Okoli, wey bin dey pregnant wen police arrest her, stay several weeks for police custody and later di court bin remand her for prison wia she later get miscarriage.
Dis Wednesday na di first day wey di trial dey start, afta court grant di defendant bail in di sum of five million naira for May 2024.
As di mata wan start, Justice Lifu ask both di prosecution and di defence counsels why dem neva sort di mata out of court, and both of dem tok say na di nominal complainant - wey be di CEO of Erisco Foods Limited - na im insist say di mata for court gatz go on.
Inibehe Effiong, wey be di lawyer to Chioma Okoli tell di court say plenty organisations and high profile individuals don chook mouth for di mata but e no work.
One of di organisations na di Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja branch, Lagos State, and also a representative of di Abia State Govnor, Alex Otti.
Di judge ask di representative of Erisco foods, Nnamdi Nwokolo, wey dey for court and e say di defendant neva make any move for reconciliation. E say wetin Erisco want na for Chioma to tender public apology.
However, di defence counsel remind di court say im client bin lose her pregnancy sake of wetin she suffer for police hand and for prison. "Wetin go compensate her for dat one?" Effiong ask.
Afta di trial judge no succeed to advise dem to choose out of court settlement, di mata start wit di first witness wey be Nnamdi Nwokolo
'Our brand suffer bad market becos of Chioma post' - Erisco
Oga Nwokolo, wey be di personal assistant operations to di CEO of Erisco foods, Eric Umeofia, tell di court say di post wey Chioma Okoli bin make about dia product on 17 September, 2023, bin spoil market for dem well-well.
E tok say some of dia business partners for abroad cut ties wit dem afta dem read about di post for international media like CNN and BBC.
"Two of our suppliers for China - Charles Zhu of Golden Star Industry Limited and Parker Zhaou of Ateser Limited - write email to our CEO to tell am about di post wey dem see, and say dem no longer dey confident to supply am wit one ongoing credit agreement dem bin get," Nwokolo tok for court.
E also narrate how Erisco Foods Limited bin attend one event by di Catholic Men Organisation of Lagos Archdiocese for August dis year, and nobodi gree patronise dem for dia stand.
"Many pipo wey come to our stand say dem no go patronise us until we realease Chioma Okoli. And dat na di hatred wey dem don plant for pipo heart against our brand," e tok.
Nwokolo also tell di court how about 300 women bin do protest in front of dia office for Alausa, Lagos on 12 March, 2024, wit all type of placards. Di protesters block di gate of dia office and dem stay dia from 9am to 4pm.
E say plenty TV stations broadcast di protest and e cause even more hatred for dia company.
Leading di witness for im testimony, di prosecution counsel Adams Ugwuanyi, present some documents wey e tender as evidence.
But di defence counsel Inibehe Effiong raise objection as e tok say all di documents no dey admissible for court.
One of di documents wey di prosecution claim say e bin come from di office of di Inspector General of Police, no get any stamp or seal.
"By virtue of section 104(2) of di evidence act, di certificate of a document gatz get di date and dey sealed by di officer wey dey authorised to certify am," Effiong tell di court.
Di second document na di Facebook post wey di police claim say Mrs Okoli bin make to de-market di product of Erisco foods.
Barr Effiong say im no get any objection to dat document, but e point out say di prosecution don attach many oda documents to dat post wey no be Facebook post but rather comments wey pipo bin make under di Facebook post.
E say di documents na mere "documentary hearsays" and di court no fit admit dem as evidence becos di pipo wey write di comments no dey stand trial bifor di court and im no go fit to cross examine dem for dis mata.
As e wan continue, di prosecution counsel tok say im wan withdraw all di document wey e bin don try to tender in evidence.
Barr Ugwuanyi den ask di court to grant adjournment becos e get additional documents wey di prosecution wan file for di mata.
Di defence say dem object to di adjournment but even if di court wan grant am, dem dey ask for cost of 500,000 naira against di prosecution for wasting dia time.
For im response, Justice Lifu tell di prosecution lawyer say im dey lucky say di law no make provision for di Judge to also ask for cost, becos e don also waste di time of di court.
Di trial judge den grant di defence adjournment as e tok say time no dey for cross examination. E adjourn di mata to 21 and 22 January, 2026, for continuation.
