Amnesty International demands release of Chioma Okoli arrested over comment that a tomato paste tasted sugary  

 

 

 

A woman, Chioma Okoli, has been arrested over comment she posted on Facebook that Nagiko Tomato Mix tasted sugary.

 

This has gotten the attention of Amnesty International Nigeria which has now demanded the ‘immediate’ release of the woman.

 

Nagiko Tomato Mix is manufactured by Erisco Foods Limited, Lagos.

 

Chioma Okoli, using her Face page that bebars the name Chioma Egodi, posted the comment on her Facebook page on 17 September.

 

She was immediately arrested by police operatives in Lagos, and then transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

 

 

The police, acting on the instruction of the manufacturer of the tomato paste, Erisco Foods Limited, have been keeping Chioma Okoli in detention for eight days now.

 

Erisco Foods Limited later issued a statement in which they accused the woman of intentionally making the post “to mislead our esteemed customers and discredit” the company’s image.

 

In a series of posts on its X handle on Tuesday, Amnesty International Nigeria asked Nigerian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release Ms Okoli.

 

“No one should be arrested simply for exercising their freedom of expression,” the group said.

 

“The arrest of Chioma Egodi shows that, despite the authorities paying lip-service to police reforms, impunity for unlawful arrests remains rampant,” it added.

 

A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a post via his X handle on Monday, said the company’s management “acted viciously and irresponsibly.”

 

 

Effiong stressed that the company ought to have issued a public statement or even reached out to the woman to understand her view and explain their position if they disagreed with her review.

 

“That would have earned the company and the brand more patronage,” he said.

 

The lawyer criticised the police over the arrest, and said it was unfortunate that the police had “refused to reform itself”.

 

He said it is upsetting that “any charlatan” in the country can easily weaponise the police, whom he said have continued to criminalise civil disputes in the country.