18th March, 2011
The National Chairman of Yoruba Video and Film Marketers Association of Nigeria, Olufemi Odunuga, who led some marketers to raid the factory of some suspected film pirates, spoke about the exercise and other issues
Why did you and other colleagues raid suspected movie pirates’ shops and printing press?
We are not fighting anyone but as you can see, we are carrying out a raid of the offices of suspected pirates and printers of the jackets of our films.
How did you discover the offices?
It was due to surveillance we put in place. We were told that our film jackets were printed overnight.
Who informed you about the development?
They are concerned people and some members of our association.
How do they get your works?
We release films every fortnight. So what they do is come to the market on the release date, get a copy, reprint the jacket, do mass dubbing of the film and sell to members of the public and a ridiculous rate.
What effect does it have on you?
Virtually all our members are in debt. We are owing and cannot even pay our bills any longer. The pirates are ruining us.
What is the Nigerian Copyright Commission doing about this?
The NCC is not helping us. When we lodged a complaint against these people, the commission hardly responded in spite of the payment of N6,000 we make on every film registered with it. In fact, we are confused and don’t know what to do.
What next?
We have informed the Lagos State Census Board and it has been living up to expectation. We hope the board will seal the premises before taking the suspects to court.
How much have you lost?
We have lost billions of naira. By rough estimate, we normally lose N400 million fortnightly whenever our films are released and this has been happening in the last four years.
Do you suspect involvement of any of your members in the racket?
I don’t think so. Everything is from Alaba International Market and we have gone there with their executives including the chairman and his deputy, but they will not cooperate because they are collaborators and are on the payroll of the pirates.
How effective is the law on piracy?
It is very mild and we think it should be more rigid.
How many marketers are in Idumota?
We have about 191 marketers and over 300 distributors, while we release an average of 30 films every fortnight.
With this development, are you collaborating with the likes of D’banj, 9ice and others to fight this menace?
It is a must because they too know that these people exist.
Is this going to be a continuous exercise?
Yes, we carry out raids almost every month, but this is a big catch and I can assure you that it is battle to the finish this time around because, in the past, whenever we arrested perpetrators of the crime, they were always released on bail as the police will say the case is civil. But if government can turn the offence into a criminal one, the better for us because they are killing us.
What did the police do this time around?
They initially came to intimidate us but after we explained our plight, they allowed us to do our job.
