Censors Board Task Force arrests three piracy suspects at Alaba

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Three men suspected to be pirates of film and musical works were, early Monday morning arrested in a raid carried out by the newly inaugurated task force on uncensored and unclassified movies by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).

The raid, led by notable marketer and member of the task force, Mr. Gabriel Okoye, aka Igwe Gabosky, took place at the popular Alaba market, leading to the seizure and confiscation of films and replicating machines estimated to be worth over N50million.

The suspects were then taken to Area E Police Station Festac Town, Lagos, where they were being interrogated.

While journalists wait for the arrival of the suspects at Area E Police Station, a member of the task force, Nobert Ajaegbu told The Nation reporter that the movement was being delayed because “the market union has been raising all sorts of money to bribe and frustrate the process. But, we are adamant,” he said

“As I speak, there is still contributions ongoing at Alaba,” he added.

Some of the movies that were seized include titles such as ‘Ayamma’, ‘Wedding Party’, ‘Three Wise Men’, ’30 Days in Atlanta’, ‘A Trip to Jamaica’, ‘Lekki Wives’, ‘Wives on Strike’, ‘Jennifer’s Diary’, and ‘Fifty’.

The suspects include, he said, include Ndu Celestine, Okechukwu Ikuagwu, and Austine Ugokwe.

Members of the task force were said to have swept on the suspects at about 1.30am on Monday.

The special taskforce was constituted by the NFVCB in June, to checkmate the upsurge of unlicensed and unclassified movies in the country.
The move was one of the steps taken by the new Executive Director of the Board, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, who assumed office barely six months ago.

The feat, according to many, was a subtle approach to minimize piracy of intellectual property in Nigeria.

Inaugurating the 8-man taskforce at the Ikoyi office of the agency, Thomas said the reconstituted national taskforce against unwholesome movies, was one of the mandates given him by President Muhammadu Buhari “to revitalize the dying dreams of the founding fathers of the film industry, whose shear efforts brought the sector to phenomenal limelight, but have so far recorded pains and tears as a result of the sabotaging works of people bent on crippling the industry.”