By A TikTok user with the username @_i.am_g.r.a.c.e has shared details of a dispute that followed a phone transaction with a vendor in Lokoja, Kogi State.
Speaking with Afriktimes, the user, Grace Okpanachi, said the situation later involved visits to a police station after disagreements arose between her and the vendor.
Grace said she received a call asking her to come to a police station for questioning after she made posts online about the issue. She said she felt scared and decided to go to the station with a male friend. According to her, when she arrived, the vendor was also there to report the matter.
She said both parties explained their sides to a police officer. Grace added that she was asked to drop her phone before entering the station and could not record anything while inside. She also said the vendor told officers that her TikTok posts amounted to cyberbullying and defamation of his business.
According to Grace, the police initially advised her to delete the posts, saying that posting the vendor online could lead to legal consequences. She said she told the officers she would only delete the video if a solution was reached regarding the phone.
Grace explained that during the discussions, it was suggested that the phone be taken to a technician trusted by the vendor to repair the reported issues, including Face ID, battery and speaker problems. She said she agreed on the condition that if the phone could not be properly fixed or new issues appeared, it should be replaced with the device she originally requested. She added that she later deleted the online video while still at the police station.
According to her, the following day the phone was taken to the technician. Grace said the technician allegedly stated that some of the problems, including the Face ID issue, could not be repaired and that the device might have deeper faults.
Grace said she later returned to the vendor’s shop with her friend to discuss the outcome. She claimed the vendor later suggested offering a different phone with lower storage, which she declined because she originally paid for a higher storage device.
Grace told Afriktimes that she had earlier swapped her Apple iPhone XR 64GB for an Apple iPhone 11 Pro 256GB on December 4, 2025, paying a total of ₦220,000 for the deal. She said she began noticing issues with the phone within five days of the swap, including problems with the screen, camera and Face ID.
She added that the vendor later offered to replace the device with an Apple iPhone 12 128GB. According to her, she eventually selected one of the available phones after the vendor assured her it would not have problems.
Grace said she later noticed issues with the phone’s speaker and volume and contacted the vendor again. She also said the phone later entered recovery mode several times, the Face ID stopped working and the battery health dropped from 100 percent to about 78 percent within two months.
She also shared a voice note which she said was sent by the vendor during their conversation. In the voice note, the speaker said:
“Let me tell you something… ₦220,000 is not a good amount to get a good phone and customer service. Your customer buying is very naive because you don’t really know what customer service is. You should have simply said the phone volume is going up and down.”
Grace also shared with Afriktimes what she described as an official receipt issued by Smith Gadgets and a screenshot of the payment confirmation from her bank app showing the transfer of ₦220,000. The receipt seen by Afriktimes carried a clause stating, “Goods received in good condition. No refund of money after payment.”
Grace said she decided to speak publicly about the situation after she felt the matter had not been resolved.
She identified the vendor as Henry Smith, owner of Smith Gadgets in Lokoja.
As at the time of filing this report, Afriktimes reached out to Smith Gadgets for a response. However, no reply had been received as of the time of publication.
Receipt the complainant said was issued for the phone transaction, shared with Afriktimes.
Disclaimer: The account presented in this report is based on claims made by the complainant during her conversation with Afriktimes. The vendor’s response had not been received at the time of publication.
