- Okoli faces up to three years in jail or a fine of Sh670,000 or both.
- The case has sparked protests by locals in Abuja who said she is persecuted for exercising her right to free speech.
Image: FILE
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a tomatoe puree is facing jail term after the manufacturer accused her of malice.
Chioma Okoli, 39, has been sued in civil court for allegedly breaking the country’s cybercrime laws.
Reports said Okoli asked her 18,000 followers on Facebook to share their opinions about a tomato puree, saying she found it too sweet.
Okoli is said to have commented that it was her first time to use the puree and she found it too sugary.
She posted a photo of an opened can of the tomato puree produced by a local company.
Her post is said to the ignited mixed reactions from her followers.
She was later on arrested.
The Lagos-based food company is seeking Sh390 million in damages.
The firm has claimed that it lost multiple credit lines because of the Facebook post.
Okoli has been charged with disseminating information “knowing to be false under Section 24 (1) (B) of Nigeria’s Cyber Crime Prohibition Act.”
Okoli faces up to three years in jail or a fine of Sh670,000 or both by Nigerian law if convicted.
She was further separately charged with conspiring with two other individuals to incite people against the company.
The crime is punishable under Section 27(1)(B) of the same Act. She risks a seven-year sentence for the offence.
The case has sparked protests by locals in Abuja who said she is persecuted for exercising her right to free speech.
Officials alleged that Okoli used her Facebook account to incite people against the company’s products.
Police said in a statement they had “unearthed compelling evidence” against Okoli.
The case has seen Nigerians on social media call for a boycott of the company’s products.
However, the company has reportedly said it will not drop the case with the founder saying he will not let someone destroy his 40 years of work.
Okoli was reportedly arrested by plainclothes police while she was in church in Lagos on September 24, 2023.
The following day, Okoli was flown to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and held at a police station until her release a day later.
Reports said she was released after agreeing to apologise but her lawyers have maintained that Okoli did it under duress.
The police filed their case against Okoli in an Abuja court on October 5.
The first court hearing took place on December 7.