The woman's arrest was instigated by the manufacturer of the tomato paste, Erisco Foods Limited, who accused her of intentionally making the post "to mislead our esteemed customers and discredit" the company's image.
Amnesty International Nigeria has demanded the 'immediate' release of a woman arrested for claiming that a tomato paste she bought in a market tasted sugary.
The paste, Nagiko tomato mix, is manufactured by Erisco Foods Limited, Lagos.
The woman, Chioma Okoli, made the comment in a post on her Facebook page on 17 September.
She goes by the name, Chioma Egodi Jnr, on Facebook.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Ms Okoli was arrested on Sunday by police operatives in Lagos State, South-west Nigeria and transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
Ms Okoli's arrest was instigated by the manufacturer of the tomato paste, Erisco Foods Limited, who accused her of intentionally making the post "to mislead our esteemed customers and discredit" the company's image.
Immediate and unconditional release
In a series of posts on its X handle on Tuesday, Amnesty International Nigeria asked Nigerian authorities to "immediately and unconditionally" release Ms Okoli.
"No one should be arrested simply for exercising their freedom of expression," the group said.
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"The arrest of Chioma Egodi shows that, despite the authorities paying lip-service to police reforms, impunity for unlawful arrests remains rampant," it added.
Outrage
Since the arrest of Ms Okoli went public on Monday, some Nigerians have criticised the company and the police for their action.
A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a post via his X handle on Monday, said the company's management "acted viciously and irresponsibly."
Mr Effiong stressed that the company ought to have issued a public statement or even reached out to the woman to understand her view and explain their position if they disagreed with her review.
"That would have earned the company and the brand more patronage," he said.
The lawyer criticised the police over the arrest, and said it was unfortunate that the police had "refused to reform itself".
He said it is upsetting that "any charlatan" in the country can easily weaponise the police, whom he said have continued to criminalise civil disputes in the country.
"We cannot continue like this," he said.
