Ex-ShopRite Staff Petitions IGP Over Alleged Contract Forgery and Criminal Plot

Friday Emeh, a former Till Attendant at Retail Store Nigeria Limited (RSNL/ShopRite), has appealed to Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate the retail giant over allegations of criminal conspiracy and forgery.

This appeal was contained in a petition dated June 24 and received by the IGP’s office on July 14. The petition, exclusively obtained by West Africa Weekly, was filed by Emeh’s lawyer and outlines a contractual dispute with ShopRite. Specifically, it details how the company’s Apo, Abuja branch hired Emeh as a Till Packer on June 18, 2012, and confirmed him in that role on September 24 of the same year.

According to Emeh, the two letters confirming his employment and contract as a Till Packer, both bearing his signature, were allegedly used to forge a separate cashier contract, one he insists he never signed.

Speaking with West Africa Weekly, Emeh said, “I was employed as a ‘Till Packer’ but doing the same work as a Cashier.” He pointed to the clause in his original employment letter that read: “[Emeh] agree that [he] will, from time to time, be required to assist in other areas, positions, employment categories, and/or at other branches.”

Emeh claims ShopRite exploited this clause to justify forging a different contractual letter suggesting he had been employed as a Cashier, a position he says he never officially held. “Working as a ‘Cashier’ was at the manager’s discretion,” he asserted.

Backstory

It will be recalled that West Africa Weekly previously reported Emeh’s ordeal in 2020, revealing how he nearly took his life a year after ShopRite employed him as a Till Packer. At the time, Emeh, who was also pursuing a music career under the stage name ‘G-Kase,’ had recorded a jingle for ShopRite in April 2013. He shared the jingle with his then-manager, Samuel Asegiemhe, who allegedly used it at ShopRite without prior agreement with the company’s management and without compensating Emeh, before he eventually resigned.

Meanwhile, a N100 million malicious lawsuit filed by ShopRite against Emeh, which claimed ownership of the song based on his supposed cashier employment, has yet to see a resolution. According to his record label, “The trial was going well, and we were about to take their [ShopRite’s] last witness when the NJC suspended the judge in April. We are now waiting for a new judge to be appointed or for a decision to be made.”

Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court was officially suspended in April 2025. With the initial N100 lawsuit still awaiting reassignment, Emeh has renewed his call for justice by petitioning the IGP, urging an investigation into ShopRite (now under Ketron Investment Limited) over alleged forgery of his signature. He maintains that the forged signature appears on a cashier contract he never signed, in contrast to his legitimate till attendant contract.

About The Author

Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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Kangmwa Gofwen

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