Death Of Customer In Detention: Rite Foods Tells Its Story

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The management of Rite Foods Limited, Lagos has denied any involvement in the sudden death of one of its distributors, Mr. Ademola Adedeji, who died recently while in detention at Area ‘F’Police Divisional Headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos.

Speaking at a press briefing at their corporate headquarters, Adebola House, Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday, Mr. Adeniyi Obafemi, a Personal Assistant to the Managing Director of the company said, “we didn’t mastermind the killing of Mr. Ademola Adedeji in detention as being speculated. Are we wrong as a company by not taking the law into our hands against someone who issued four different dud cheques at different times to the company and still coming to buy goods without any attempt at paying back the sum of Ten Million, Three Hundred and Thirty Nine Thousand, and 71 kobo (N10,339,613.71k) he owned the company? He even said that he had diverted the money to his building project in Mowe. The information can be verified.

“He joined Rite Foods Limited as a ‘cash and carry’ customer in 2008 and before then he claimed he was working at Alagbon prisons as a security officer with Twenty Thousand, (N20,000.00) as his monthly salary. The organisation has a policy of giving credit facility to their customers. The deceased made a specific request for credit facility increment, late last year to help him participate in the Life Church Convention. For convenience sake, it was approved.

“After the convention, to our surprise, the deceased did not honour the terms of agreement claiming that all customers and churches had not paid him. He issued four dud cheques totaling N7,918,150.00 (seven million, nine hundred and eighteen thousand, one hundred and fifty naira only). The original cheques are available for your view.”

“Consequently, a customer care staff and an account personnel were assigned to follow him to all his customers and churches to verify his alleged debt claims. But all customers and churches representatives debunked his claims in the presence of himself and our staff . At this time, the company started using dialogue in person and phone calls to talk him into paying up”.

“On 9 February, 2012, after a meeting with the company, it became obvious that he had no intention of paying up his debt. We then decided to refer the matter immediately to the police at area ‘F’ police station, Ikeja and he was arrested in a lawful manner and not harassed in anyway.

“The late Ademola Adedeji and Mr. Innocent Osuji, our company’s Chief Security Officer, went to write their statements at the police station same day. At the police station, our Chief Security Officer reported that when he was leaving, Mrs. Victoria Adedeji, wife of the deceased commended and thanked the organization and the police on the way and manner her husband was treated after reading her husband’s statement where he accepted the entire claims.

“The police officers and the deceased had agreed to meet at 8 a.m the following day where he was to pay N1,000,000 (one million naira) of his debt. It should be noted that the CSO left Mr. Adedeji at 6.50 p.m on that said day, leaving behind his wife, Victoria , a policeman friend ,who was referred to as a close friend of the Adedejis. It was therefore shocking to read in the newspapers later that barely two hours after the wife left he was reported dead.

“The next day the CSO went back to the police station as agreed, only to learn of his sudden death. He was not allowed to see his corpse.

‘’The company had earlier sent representatives to the deceased’s residence to extend our condolence to the family, but we were told that his children and wife have moved out of their residence. A similar incident occured in September last year when the deceased’s sales assistant slumped and died in Ademola’s bus while on duty. .

P.M.NEWS learnt that until his death Ademola Adedeji lived at Oke Safari Street, Adesan area of Mowe, close to Move bus stop, opposite Oke Safari Church, Ogun State and his house is popularly known as ‘Ile Baba Bigi’

—Oluwole Adeboye

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