An Abuja-based bread maker has slammed a N50 million lawsuit on a provisions store owner for allegedly making unverified claims about her product.

The shop owner in a viral video on Wednesday urging Nigerians to bake bread by themselves, alleged that the product in the market now is unhealthy.

She backed her claim with a particular bread she said had been on her shelf for two months without showing signs of rotteness . She was, however, careful not to mention the brand but displayed the bread without showing the name and took out a slice to show her audience.

However, in another viral video on Friday, the shop owner displayed a letter, stating that the company sued her for her claim which it said affected sales, despite not mentioning the brand in the video.

She said, “They sent their solicitors to serve me this letter. Remember the video I made three days ago about the bread that stayed two months in my shop without going bad? I was very intentional in that video, I didn’t mention any brand, and didn’t show their logo, I was that careful.

“The next day, they sent me a message in my DM on social media, saying ‘We saw a video you made with a product that resembles our own.’ They said they want to reach me, so we can have a talk. That same instance, I was trying to wrap my head round the message I just saw. I received a phone call on my direct line from them. I lost it. I said I didn’t make any video about your bread, please, stop calling me. I ended the call.

“They sent a DM via Instagram that madam is not somebody I can joke with; that I don’t even know the gravity of what I’m doing. In that same breath, they go under my Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and wrote this long letter, telling me I should bring down the video, that I am defaming them by saying they are lawless, irresponsible and that their bread is poisoning people. They said if I don’t take it down before 6:00 p.m., they will take legal actions against me.

“Today, I woke up to someone sending me their page, they said a content creator has defamed their company, they’ve taken it seriously and they are going to engage their solicitors. Your name and logo are not showing in this video. My girl called me that a lawyer is here with a letter, and it’s from the bakery. If anyone insert themselves in my video, by going into the comment section and claiming everything I said that it is your own, and even adding more, there was no language like lawlessness, irresponsibility.

“They are demanding I take down the video. I should retract what I have said in that video, and I should come to this solicitor’s office and give them N50 million because for these three days, that is how much they have lost.”

The Managing Director of the Bakery, Maria Cadilo, in a video on Friday, said the video by the shop owner, damaged her 20 years of hardwork, adding that her product was approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, and other regulatory agencies.

She said, “It pains me that after putting in 20 years of hard work, somebody on social media, with a two minutes clip will cause so much damage. From day one, I’ve always ensured that my product meets the standard recommended by NAFDAC, SON and other regulatory bodies. I continually strive for freshness, in fact, mine is one of the few bakeries that do not produce bread to be resold, we produce bread by order.

“I made a call to the lady who did this clip. My intention was to ask her for a meeting to talk through it. I wanted to understand where she got the bread from, how come the bread had stayed two months, according to her claim but she dropped the call on me.”

She stated that she also saw in the lady’s comment section before she called her that commenters mentioned her bread, and she liked the comments.

She said that for her meant she agreed to the fact that that it was the bread she was holding.

Ms Cadilo noted, “All I want her to do is show me what bread it is, I just wanted to understand. But she has blocked me in every way to get access to her. I also want to use this opportunity to ask the public that wherever you see Bon bread, please buy it, test it yourself. I told her, let’s go and test the bread you have, she’s not taking my calls. After this video, I’m going to post here all my NAFDAC registrations and lab tests for the past 20 years. I challenge everyone, I don’t have anything to hide.”

Acknowledging that some products in Nigeria were adulterated thereby making them harmful to human health, Mrs Cadilo, while stating that she was open to scrutiny, reiterated her appeal to her to come forward and show where she got her claim from.

She noted that she had resolved to get to the root of the matter to expose the truth.