Comedian Julius Agwu has dragged telecoms giant
Etisalat to court for blocking his business line. He is demanding for
N100million as compensation for jobs lost, contact lost, for the
inconveniences, and for being mistreated by Etisalat staff.
According to the top comic act, the telecoms brand
granted a third party access into his mobile line and illegally transferred his
credit in the process. The unidentified individual also gained access into his
credit card account.
Julius states that the incident happened when he
traveled to the USA to see his family
Read it below;
“While I was in America to see my new baby, I
suddenly realized that my Etisalat line was inactive. I couldn’t receive and
make calls. I went to Etisalat office in Hilton to complain and to discover
what the problem was. I was told someone asked the company to swap my line. I
got very worried immediately and queried them.
How could someone’s line get swapped without the
authorization of the owner? Even as the owner of the line, I would issue an
authorization letter to effect that. I was worried because I personally
registered the line and I told them I want to know the staff that granted the
request but they refused. It was however rectified that very day by one Miss
Joan and I was able to make use of the line again momentarily, for that day
only. I later made several calls to the customer care and till now, nothing has
been done.
Due to their negligence, I have lost few jobs
because that is the only line some clients could reach me on. Another painful
aspect of it all is that the person broke into my credit card account and it
was used in Rome and Milan. And as a matter of fact, I didn’t go to those
places. I have to block the card because I have lost money.
The credit on the line was also transferred to the
new line by the person who swapped it. There is a high level of impunity in
this country and nobody cares. I’m crying out so that people can know how
shameless and useless some brands can be. I will take this matter to the Nigeria
Communications Commission (NCC) and National Human Rights Commission. I should
be fully compensated because even till now, the problem has not been
rectified.”
It is quite sad.
Below is a
statement from his lawyer, Festus Keyamo...
We are solicitors to Mr. Julius Agwu, one of
Nigeria's most sought after entertainers (hereinafter referred to as "our
client") and on whose behalf we write.
Our client is the owner of the Etisalat GSM phone
number 08189555555, which he uses as his business line. On the 8th of October,
2013, our client travelled out of the country and returned on the 17th of the
same month. Upon his return, he tried severally to make calls from the
aforestated GSM line but same could not connect. Not only could he not make
calls, he also could not receive calls on the said GSM line. This continued for
some days until he got a message that his line had been blocked by the network
provider.
Sequel to the above message, our client promptly
visited your Abuja office at Hilton to report the matter. He was attended to by
one Miss Joan, who informed him that somebody swapped his line. After our
client successfully answered the security questions put to him, he was informed
that his line had been restored, but the credit balance on the line was not
returned.
Surprisingly, our client's aforestated line was
blocked again after he left your said Abuja office. Once again our client
visited your office at the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed International
Airport Ikeja, Lagos to lodge a complaint, but painfully, nothing was done
about it.
However, after sometime, our client was invited for
a meeting at your head office in Lagos on the 14th of November, 2013 which he
duly honoured. Present at the meeting (in addition to the officials of your
organization) was Mr. Mobolaji Okusaga, the Managing Director of The Quadrant
Company, in his capacity as media agents/managers for Etisalat Nigeria.
At the end of the meeting, our client was told for
the umpteenth time that they would get back to him, which they again failed to
do.
LOSS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
It cannot be over emphasized that your actions of
unlawfully blocking and/or swapping our client's line occasioned loss of
business opportunities to him. As you are aware, our client as one of the most
sought after Nigerian entertainers needs his phone line to be easily accessible
to keep his business going. It therefore goes without saying that our client
has lost some business opportunities as a result of your actions.
TAKE NOTICE that we have our client's firm
instruction to demand and hereby demand the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred
Million Naira) as compensation for the loss of business opportunities and the
inconvenience caused our client by reason of your unlawful and unjustified
blocking and/or swapping of our client's Etisalat GSM phone line.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that in the event that you fail,
refuse or neglect to accede to our above stated demand within seven (7) days
from the receipt of this letter, we shall be compelled to set in motion against
you, all legal machineries necessary to obtain legal remedy for our client.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.
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