Court Grants Chioma Okoli N5m Bail After Months Of Detention Over Erisco Tomato Review

The Federal High Court in Abuja granted bail to Chioma Okoli, who has been detained since 2023 for allegedly posting a negative review of a tomato paste.

Justice Peter Lifu , in a ruling delivered on Friday, May 31, 2024, granted the defendant bail to the tune of N5million with two sureties in the like sum.

The judge held that one surety must be her spouse or a blood relative with a verified income and must live within the court’s jurisdiction.

He also held that the sureties must deposit their passport photograph, even as Chioma was ordered to surrender her international passport and not travel out of the country without jurisdiction.

Justice Lifu noted that the charges against her are bailable and scheduled the next hearing for June 13.

Chioma had been remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre after pleading not guilty to charges of conspiracy and cyberstalking filed by the Inspector General of Police.

The prosecution claimed that in September 2023, she and two others, who are still at large, posted a false message on Facebook about a tomato paste made by Erisco Foods Limited, intending to harm the company’s reputation.

Chioma’s lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, requested her release on bail, revealing that she had suffered a miscarriage during the case and eventually lost her baby.

However, the police lawyer, Abdulrashid Isyaku-Sidi, opposed the bail application.

Chief Eric Umeofia, the owner of Erisco Foods Limited, had supported Chioma’s arrest, stating that her negative review, which claimed that the product contained too much sugar, had significantly impacted his business.

Sequel to a complaint by Chief Umeofia, police, in 2023, arrested the defendant, an action that sparked off a public outcry on various social media platforms.

The charges against Chioma alleged that she conspired with others to intentionally post false information on Facebook to harm Erisco Foods Limited, causing various harms to the company and its members, which violates the Cyber Crime Prohibition Act.

KanyiDaily recalls that Chioma Okoli’s husband, Chizoba Okoli had called on Nigerians to hold the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun responsible if anything happened to his wife or children.