Around 8 p.m. on October 20, 2023, X users saw posts that followed the pattern of dissatisfied customers calling out an erring vendor. This time, it was Adeola Akinmola (@ade_authority) calling out Wunmi Odunmorayo, the CEO of Naija Hair Factory, for allegedly insulting her after a business transaction went wrong.
However, by the evening of October 25, 2023, things had taken a different turn. X users found out that Akinmola had been detained by the police following a report by Odunmorayo. Several posts were made asking for Akinmola’s release.
What happened?
On Thursday, October 12, 2023, Akinmola direct messaged Naija Hair Factory’s Instagram page to enquire about their wig revamping services.
“I sent an Instagram DM explaining that I wanted to revamp three wigs, with all the details they needed to know for each hair, “Akinmola explains. “I also asked about the price and duration of the process, but instead, they [presumably someone from customer service] collected my address to come pick up the hair and requested that the conversation be moved to WhatsApp. They didn’t reach out to me on WhatsApp.”
Akinmola confirms that the wigs were picked up the next day [on Friday], but there was no confirmation from them till she sent them an Instagram message on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, to complain that no one had reached out to her on WhatsApp.
“They sent a WhatsApp message hours later asking me to confirm the hair they received. At this point, I was furious. If they were just asking me to confirm something that had been sent since Friday last week, it meant the hair hadn’t been revamped yet. On top of that, the pictures they sent for confirmation had my hair looking like something from a dumpster. These were wigs that were still fairly new”.
Akinmola went on to ask when she’d get the wigs revamped, and was told she’d receive them by Wednesday, October 25, 2023. “This meant the wigs would’ve been with them for three weeks, and I couldn’t wait. So instead, I said I’d send my dispatch rider down to pick up the wigs and pay for the pickup they did, which was ₦3k. On hearing that, they tried to reach a compromise. I explained that I needed the hair by Friday afternoon at the latest, as I had an event on Saturday. They said they’d be able to meet up.”
But Friday [October 20] came, and the story changed. Delivery was moved to the next day.
“At that point, I just asked to send my rider instead. They agreed, and I informed them when I sent the rider around 4 p.m., but they were no longer responsive. They then responded on Instagram at 5 p.m. that they’d closed for the day and I should check back tomorrow. The rider I sent eventually cancelled the trip and left.
I lashed out, and soon after, they reached out on Instagram, asking me to send another rider because they’d dropped my hair with security. They sent me account details to pay the ₦18k bill — ₦3k each for pickup and delivery, and ₦12k for the service. I paid ₦15k because I was paying for delivery myself. Immediately after I sent evidence of payment, I was blocked on Instagram and couldn’t view the account anymore.”
Akinmola went on WhatsApp to complain that she hadn’t received her hair before being blocked, but there was no response. Frustrated, she then went on X and posted, “Naija Hair Factory just blocked me even before delivering my hair”. But she deleted the post almost immediately.
“I didn’t want to get involved in drama. I eventually arranged for another rider to pick it up, but because it was quite late, I didn’t get the hair that day.”
The confrontation with Wunmi Odunmorayo
A few hours after the deleted post, Akinmola received a call from someone who turned out to be Wunmi Odunmorayo, the CEO of Naija Hair Factory.
“She introduced herself and promptly started calling me names like “idiot”, “bitch” and “shameless”. She also called my husband names. The call was unexpected, so I couldn’t immediately record the call. My husband was with me, and I told him to record, but she ended the call. She then proceeded to send me messages and make calls to me via WhatsApp. I recorded it all. I even asked why she’d bring my family into this.”
It was at that point that Akinmola posted about her ordeal on X. What followed was a text message from Odunmorayo who later picked up negative feedback on Akinmola’s business (@corporateewa) from X to defend herself on Instagram story.
When did the police get involved?
On Saturday, October 21, Akinmola received a call from one Mr Jide at State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, who informed her that Wunmi Odunmorayo had filed a petition against her.
“I immediately informed my lawyer and asked the policeman to continue the conversation with him. All this while, I was still receiving random calls from Odunmorayo. On Monday, she called me to take down the thread I made of the ordeal on X. I said I’d do it on the condition that she apologised to me. She refused and said, “You will see.” The call is recorded.”
By 4 p.m. on that Monday, four police officers visited Akinmola’s Surulere office and asked to see her. She wasn’t around, so they dropped a message inviting her to a Bariga station the next morning.
“I expected the questioning to happen in Surulere, where I was based, so I informed my lawyer. We went to the Surulere station to make a report on Tuesday and told the Bariga policemen we’d show up on Wednesday. I even had an accident that Tuesday evening, which required me to fix my car on Wednesday morning. But I arrived at the Bariga station with my husband and lawyer for what was supposed to be a simple dialogue.”
What happened at the police station, as recounted by Akinmola and her husband
We waited for Odunmorayo to show up at the station for over an hour. She finally arrived with a man. They were holding hands and seemed close, even exchanging quiet remarks.
Two other policemen (Nosa and Kenny) joined us, and we all sat under a tree in the compound. We were soon made to understand that the man who came in with Odunmorayo was the S.O (station officer).
She told her side of the story, twisting it completely. The S.O kept taking random calls with friends in between my turn to speak. When I was done, he simply told Nosa to take us to write statements. Then he left the station.
Odunmorayo wrote hers first, and they didn’t read it. But when I wrote mine, Kenny read it out and went through my phone to look at the tweets. They also told me to write in the statement that I posted her personal number, but I refused because the number was introduced to me as a business line. He said I didn’t have a case, so I mentioned I had recordings on my husband’s phone to prove she had been threatening me via calls and messages. The phone’s battery was dead at the time, so Kenny took the phone to charge, but when he returned it, he didn’t bother to check the recordings.
Instead, he asked Odunmorayo to show him the threats she had been receiving on her phone. He supposedly checked it but never showed me anything. I never sent any threat.
At that point, I noticed Odunmorayo call her parents to call the DPO (Divisional Police Officer). In a matter of minutes, the DPO called the police officers and asked them to charge me with cyberstalking, cyberbullying and intent to cause problems. I was detained immediately.
The DPO wasn’t even there, he hadn’t examined the statements, my recordings or done any investigations. Odunmorayo was right there when they announced that I’d be detained. My lawyer tried to disagree, but they threatened to send him out. My earrings, slippers and other personal effects were removed. I even told them I was on my period, but I got no audience. Odunmorayo left soon after.
The lawyer and my husband tried to seek bail, but they claimed the DPO wasn’t around. The officers refused to drop the DPO’s number, and it also wasn’t written down anywhere in the station.
We eventually got the number via X, but the DPO didn’t pick up. We had to wait till around 10 p.m. when the DPO finally showed up. Apparently, the S.O was the DPO.
I was taken into his office, and he said in Yoruba, “You these influencers think you can get away with everybody.” At that point, I hadn’t changed my tampon or eaten anything. I was tired. I asked if I could sit on one of the chairs in his office as I was on my period, and he said, “Does this place look like a period place?”
Nosa and Kenny were there too, so I tried to explain to the DPO that my evidence wasn’t examined and I wasn’t given a fair hearing. Those officers lied through their noses and said they checked everything.
I was taken back to detention while my husband continued seeking bail. He wasn’t allowed to stand in as surety because they said they wanted someone from Bariga, so we had to call a friend. My husband tried to see the DPO again to address the situation, but he was told he wasn’t available, even though he could see him watching TV through the window at the back.
Around 11 p.m., the DPO walked out and drove off even though they knew someone was coming to process the bail. The friend came and placed a call to the DPO. The DPO directed him to Nosa (who was the Investigating Police Officer – IPO) to help, but Nosa said, “Why are you coming at this time? Who will process bail at this time?” We tried to call the DPO again several times, but he didn’t pick up.
We were delayed till around 9 a.m. on Thursday before the bail was processed, and I was released. We were told to return on Monday, October 30, at 10 a.m.
What next?
“We aren’t sure what the next step is now, but we’ll continue to do everything legally,” Akinmola says.
Odunmorayo released a statement on Instagram on Thursday, October 26, insisting that her personal number was posted and the police report was due to being “deeply troubled by the harassment and threats”. She also stated that by the time she left the station, Akinmola wasn’t detained.
This is a developing story.
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