The founder and President of Erisco Foods Limited, Eris Umeofia, has said that he had the right to call for the arrest of Chioma Egodi, a reviewer of one of their products, Najiko Tomato Mix, as he said that she was out for the downfall of his business.
The founder and President of Erisco Foods Limited, Eris Umeofia, has emphasized his right to call for the arrest of Chioma Egodi, a reviewer of one of their products, Najiko Tomato Mix. He alleges that she was actively working to undermine his business.
Additionally, Umeofia announced his intent to pursue legal action against Egodi, seeking 5 billion Naira in damages.
Recently, Erisco Foods Limited has faced criticism for orchestrating the arrest of Chioma Egodi, who posted a review of their product, Najiko Tomato Mix, on her Facebook page. In her review, she claimed that the product contained excessive sugar, making it unsafe for consumption.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS, the President of the company defended his decision to call for Egodi’s arrest, stating, “We will not allow our efforts of 40 years over to be destroyed by somebody that is the syndicate of importers that have been fighting our products since the beginning.”
Umeofia explained that, since Egodi repeatedly made online claims that Erisco products were causing harm and refused to engage in direct communication, he sought the assistance of the Inspector General of Police to secure her arrest.
In a letter titled “Complaint Of Criminal Conspiracy, Demarketing and Blackmailing Of Our Product and Cyberbullying Against An Organized Syndicate Faking Our Products After Failing To Extort Money From Us” (paraphrased), Umeofia petitioned the IGP for Egodi’s arrest.
Addressing those who criticized his actions regarding his ‘customer,’ Umeofia repeatedly stressed that Egodi was not a regular customer of Erisco products, asserting that she had only purchased the product once for testing.
He said, “The consumer has rights. None of you will love your customers more than me. I love my customers, if no customer, I would not be what I am today, so none of you will come and advise me on how to handle my customers, I know they’re my strength. So, when customers come to destroy you, what is Nigeria thinking?”
“This is another Mmesoma and JAMB case, simple. People are castigating JAMB, now, nobody got the guts to say, JAMB, sorry for what I said. People must come back and tell me sorry.
Umeofia mentioned that due to this issue, he has lost major deals in his business, saying, “I have credit line of 15 million dollars from two customers, and now it is suspended.”
Furthermore, the Erisco president disclosed that, prior to her release from police custody, Chioma Egodi and her husband expressed their intention to offer an apology and retract her statements. According to him, the police had set a condition that she be given a seven-day window to withdraw her posts and issue a formal apology letter.
Umeofia asserted that he possessed a copy of this apology.
He proceeded to read a segment of the written apology by Edoka, which stated, “I sincerely wish to apologize to Erisco Foods Limited. In the post, I made on Facebook about their product, Nagiko Tomato mix. I am sorry for the lies concerning your products.
“I reject my actions and wish to be forgiven. I pledge that this type of bad behaviour will never happen again. I undertake to retract all my earlier posts on this matter immediately, this is without any compulsion. I will do anything within my power to ratify the things I did wrongly concerning the matter.”
However, when questioned about pursuing legal action against Egodi, Umeofia confirmed his intent to do so. He argued that since she accepted wrongdoing during her police encounter, it constituted a criminal case. He emphasized that he would sue her for damages amounting to 5 billion Naira, citing her alleged determination to harm his company.
He stated, “I will, surely. If she accepted in the police it is a criminal case, what of my damages? Is it right?” He went on to say that he will be suing her for damages in the amount of 5 billion naira, saying,
“People should go and read what she posted to show you that she is determined to kill us. So why should I leave her?”
Umeofia insisted that the written apology alone was insufficient because Egodi had not posted it on social media as per their agreement. He declared, “If you don’t post it there, we’re going for 5 billion,”