By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, granted bail to a lady, Chioma Okoli, who has been in detention since 2023 over her alleged negative review of a tomato paste.

The court, in a ruling that was delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, granted the defendant bail to the tune of N5million with two sureties in the like sum.

Justice Lifu held that one of the sureties must be the defendant’s spouse or blood relative with a verified source of income, stressing that the person must reside within the jurisdiction of the court.

More so, he held that the sureties must deposit their passport photograph, even as the defendant was ordered to surrender her international passport and not travel out of the country without jurisdiction.

The trial judge noted that the charge against the defendant contained bailable offences.

He subsequently adjourned the matter till June 13 for hearing.

The court had on May 28, remanded the defendant at the Suleja Correctional Centre in Niger State, after she pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and cyberstalking, which the Inspector General of Police preferred against her.

Specifically, the prosecution alleged that the defendant had sometime in September 2023, conspired with two others currently at large, and intentionally published a false message on Facebook with the intention of instigating people against a tomato paste that belongs to Erisco Foods Limited.

Police maintained that the intent of the defendant was to use the Facebook post “to cause annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will, or needless anxiety to Erisco Foods Limited, the management, and members of the family.”

It alleged that the defendant, by her action, committed an offense contrary and punishable under Section 27 (1) (B) Cyber Crime Prohibition Act.

However, following the plea of innocence by the defendant, her lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, prayed the court to release her on bail, pending the determination of the case against her.

Effiong told the court that his client suffered miscarriage in the course of the case and eventually lost her baby.

On his part, police lawyer, Abdulrashid Isyaku-Sidi, urged the court to refuse the bail application.

It will be recalled that the owner of Erisco Foods Limited, Chief Eric Umeofia, had in 2023, okayed Mrs. Okoli’s arrest, insisting that her negative review greatly affected his business.

The defendant had allegedly claimed that Nagiko Tomato Mix, a product of Erisco Foods Limited, which she bought, contained too much sugar.

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 two-count charge the IGP eventually entered against the defendant, read: “That you Chioma Edoka Okoli also known as Chioma Egodi Jnr, Happiness Obas now at large And Don Kashking now at large ‘m’ on or about sometime in the month of September 2023 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired among yourself and intentionally sent a message by means of computer and social media network such as Facebook, by using your Facebook handle by name Chioma Egodi Jnr, with the intention of instigating people against Erisco Foods Limited, knowing the said information to be false and with intent to cause annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will, or needless anxiety to Erisco Foods Limited, the management, and members of the family, thereby committed an offense contrary and punishable under Section 27 (1) (B) Cyber Crime Prohibition Act.

“That you Chioma Edoka Okoli also known as Chioma Egodi Jnr, Happiness Obas now at large and Don Kashking now at large ‘m’ on or about sometime in the month of September, 2023 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court intentionally send a message by means of computer and social media network such as Facebook, by using your Facebook handle by name Chioma Egodi Jnr, with the intention of instigating Erisco Foods Limited, knowing the said information to be false and with intent to cause annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to Erisco Foods Limited, the management, and members of the family, and thereby committed an offense contrary and punishable under Section 24 (1) (B) Cyber Crime Prohibition Act.”

Vanguard News