SaharaReporters in January reported that policemen on the alleged orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, invaded the residence of Okoli in Lagos State.
Global human rights body, the Amnesty International, has demanded an immediate end to harassment and intimidation of Chioma Okoli by the Nigeria Police Force and Erisco Foods Limited over a product review on Facebook.
SaharaReporters had reported that some Nigerian tweeps threatened to boycott all Erisco Foods products for allegedly bullying and intimidating Okoli, a female customer who was arrested for giving the tomato product of the company a negative review.
SaharaReporters in January reported that policemen on the alleged orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, invaded the residence of Okoli in Lagos State.
It was gathered that the team of policemen from Abuja who claimed to be acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police moved to re-arrest Okoli without serving any court order authorising them to do so.
Also in January, human rights lawyer and counsel to Okoli, Inibehe Effiong, disclosed that Okoli had received the sum of N1.9 million donation from Nigerians for legal fees.
But the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement last week reaffirmed the commitment of the police to “upholding the rule of law in the Erisco Tomato matter”.
Adejobi said that it is imperative to caution members of the public against spreading misinformation and attempting to manipulate public sentiments.
He said the recent developments in the case are deeply worrisome, particularly the use of crowdfunding as a means to influence legal proceedings, adding that such actions undermine the integrity of the justice system and threaten the principles of fairness and accountability as they are highly inimical to the existence of the rule of law.
The Nigeria police last week asked Chioma Okoli to show up to allow justice to take its course in the matter.
In a series of posts on its X (formerly Twitter) handle, Amnesty International on Monday said that harassment of Okoli by the police showed that despite the Nigerian authorities paying lip-service to police reforms, impunity for unlawful arrests remains rampant in the country, demanding that the Nigerian authorities must stop using cyber crimes Act to violate Okoli’s rights.
Amnesty said that “Since September 2023, Chioma Egodi has been subjected to a series of harassment and intimidation over a review of tomato paste on social media.
“The harassment of Chioma Egodi shows that, despite the authorities paying lip-service to police reforms, impunity for unlawful arrests remains rampant.
“The sections of the Cyber Crimes Act which the police have been using to harass Chioma Egodi were used — in the past — as tools to gag freedom of expression in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian authorities must end the harassment of Chioma Egodi and stop using Cyber Crimes Act to violate her rights.”