Erisco: FCCPC says Facebook user’s arrest could trigger court action

The Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, said the arrest of Chioma Egodi by Erisco could lead to a civil court action.

Irukera said this during an interview on Wednesday, on Arise News, where he was asked if Egodi could have a case against Erisco for arresting her over a product review.

Despite her release on Tuesday, Irukera said there could still be a legal case due to the handling of the situation.

“Because I am a regulator in this matter, it will be wrong for me to provide legal advice. But on a general note, the rubric of our tort law, both from a case law, common law and legislature standpoint, it is possible that there might be potential theory of liability and a civil court action,” Irukera said.

He also said Erisco was ill-advised with the malicious claim made in the statement defending their action against Egodi, “Because malicious prosecution is not just the police or the enforcement or the prosecutors, it also impact those who instigate it and whether there’s any reasonable basis or factual, combination of facts that supported the alarm or allegations or the report in the first place,” Irukera opined.

READ ALSO: Erisco, founder under fire over arrest of customer for product review

Irukera said if it was discovered that someone used a malicious report to trigger law enforcement or judicial process inappropriately, such a person could be held accountable.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Irukera wrote on X, formerly called Twitter, that despite Egodi’s release, FCCPC will ensure such a situation never occurs again.

He spoke against using law enforcement as a threat to shut persons from expressing their opinion on a product, “Criminality in commerce is an exception. Our society cannot endure under the threat or fear that fair expressions (when properly so) can become subject of law enforcement.”

Under the post, when asked by Wale Micaiah, an X user, if FCCPC will go ahead to investigate Egodi’s claim and also protect the right of Customers to call out bad products, Irukera said it doesn’t matter if she reached a mutual amicable resolution with Erisco, “The fundamental issues of how this occurred remain and require attention.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now