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A heated online dispute has erupted in Makurdi, Benue State, after a Facebook user identified as D’nkaded Elder Sughnen Yaaya publicly accused an employee of Sudo P (a popular retail store) of deliberately taking and refusing to return a customer’s lost mobile phone.
According to the detailed account posted by the user, the incident began around 5-6 p.m. the previous day when a customer, Mr. Uchenna Okafor, visited the Sudop P outlet to purchase items for his family. While shopping, he reportedly set his phone down near the ice-cream section to get a basket, only to realize moments later that the device was missing. Despite repeated calls, texts, and offers of a reward for its return, the phone remained unrecovered.
The complainant stated that the phone’s location was tracked to “Dayspring, North Bank” area before it went offline. After failing to recover it through conventional means, the user claimed to have obtained the suspect’s phone number, address, and workplace details. The suspect was identified as an employee at the same Sudop P store.
The narrative escalated when the poster sent a brother to the suspect’s workplace to plead for the phone’s return. According to the account, the suspect reportedly spotted the brother, exited through a back door, entered his car, and demanded ₦10 million before driving off. The brother waited over an hour without the suspect returning.
Frustrated, the user made a public social media post calling out the individual, which quickly went viral. The post allegedly prompted the suspect’s manager to summon him to the office. Subsequently, the phone was reportedly returned to the Sudop P store, where the brother collected it. The store’s management, referred to as “Madam Sudo P,” then pleaded with the poster to delete the viral publications, which the user complied with after the device was recovered.
In follow-up posts, the user defended the decision to go public, asserting that private attempts to resolve the matter peacefully had failed. The poster claimed access to CCTV footage from the store showing the suspect walking past the forgotten phone, returning to pick it up, placing his own phone in a similar spot, and then taking both devices.
The user posed rhetorical questions to the public, including “Where’s my wrong?” and “Banner for him or No banner?” while emphasizing the presence of active CCTV cameras and tight security at Sudop P stores, suggesting the footage proved intentional theft rather than a mistake. A moral lesson was added: “You saw CCTV at Sudop P stores but thought it’s for decoration?”
The incident has generated mixed reactions online, with some users supporting the call-out as a legitimate way to recover stolen property when private efforts fail, while others questioned the approach of naming and shaming publicly before exhausting all internal channels. No official statement has been issued by Sudo P management or law enforcement regarding the matter.
As the conversation continues to circulate on social media, the episode highlights growing tensions around phone thefts, customer trust in retail outlets, and the role of social media in resolving (or escalating) personal disputes in contemporary Nigeria.
