A prosecution witness, SP Joel Nimfa, on Thursday, testified before the Federal High Court in Abuja in the ongoing case involving Erisco Foods Limited and the defendant, Chioma Okoli.
Nimfa who is the second prosecution witness (PW2), told the court that he was attached to the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit, now known as the Police Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters.
He also told the court that he knew the defendant because he led the team that investigated the matter.
He said the petition was assigned to his unit and that he personally led the investigation team to Lagos, where the defendant was arrested.
According to the witness, after the defendant was brought to Abuja, she was asked to write and publish a letter of apology.
He alleged that although Okoli wrote the letter, she failed to publish it on her Facebook page as instructed.
SP Nimfa told the court that the management of Erisco Foods made several attempts to reach the defendant through phone calls but received no response.
He said this led the complainant to return to the police to report that the defendant had failed to comply with the agreement to publish the apology.
The witness further testified that the complainant, expressed fear for his life, stating that he did not know who might have collaborated with the defendant to damage his business.
He said there were widespread online campaigns allegedly led by the defendant and her associates, calling on members of the public to boycott Erisco Foods’ products.
During the investigation, SP Nimfa said the police discovered that Erisco Foods was a duly registered company with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and that its products were approved by relevant regulatory bodies.
“These include the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency,” he said.
He explained that it was standard investigative procedure to verify the registration and certification status of companies involved in such complaints, adding that all the agencies confirmed that Erisco Foods’ products were safe and posed no health risk.
The witness said the information and documents relied upon during the investigation were provided by the complainant and further verified through online inquiries.
He listed the documents to include the complainant’s statement, screenshots of NAFDAC and SON certificates, Lagos State Consumer Protection certificates, screenshots of online posts calling for a boycott of Erisco Foods’ products, all accompanied by a certificate of compliance.
Nimfa also testified that a protest, which he described as riotous, took place in front of the Erisco Foods premises, where protesters repeatedly hit the company’s gate.
He said photographs of the incident were submitted to the investigating unit.
According to him, it was presumed that the protest was organised by the defendant, adding that the protesters were chanting slogans calling for the defendant to be left alone while urging the public to boycott Erisco Foods’ products.
The witness further told the court that the petition against the defendant was written by one Nnamdi Nwokolo on behalf of Erisco Foods Limited.
He also said that the defendant’s failure to provide evidence to support her negative review of the product formed a major part of the case.
According to him, the defendant could not provide evidence of the specific product she claimed to have used.
He said she told investigators that she tasted the product and asked her husband to do the same, but neither could consume it, and no sample of the alleged harmful product was provided for analysis.
The witness further informed the court that the defendant appeared on a television programme where she claimed she was poor and alleged that the company owner and the police were intimidating her because of her status.
The trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu subsequently adjourned the matter until February 24, 25 and 26 for the prosecution to close its case.
Okoli is facing a two-count charge bordering on cybercrime.
She was sued over a Facebook post she shared on Sept. 17, 2023, in which she claimed she bought Nagiko Tomato Mix from Erisco Foods and found it “utterly sugary.”
