The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Gabosky

  • Censors Board Task Force arrests three piracy suspects at Alaba

    Censors Board Task Force arrests three piracy suspects at Alaba

    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.”

     

  • Suspected film pirate nabbed in Lagos

    Suspected film pirate nabbed in Lagos

    • IG orders that case be moved to Abuja
    This may be the beginning of a real legal battle against intellectual property theft, as a suspected pirate, Eze Obasi, on Tuesday, was apprehended in Alaba market, Lagos, following tip off.
    This happened two days after the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during a meeting with stakeholders in the film industry declared war against pirates, “this is totally unacceptable!” he said. “This Administration is determined to fight this scourge, and the good news is that we have the backing of Mr. President.
    Obasi may just be the first of similar cases to be attacked with all seriousness, as the Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase has ordered the transfer of Obasi to Abuja.
    Arase was acting on the directive of the Minister of Information and Culture, who was contacted by a prominent member of the film industry who craved anonymity.
    Earlier, filmmakers were agitated over the relocation of Obasi, thinking it was another ploy to release the suspect, who has the backing of king pins in the market.
    But the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and Culture, Williams Adeleye confirmed to The Nation that his boss was indeed aware of the case and had contacted the IG about it.
    Speaking to The Nation at the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC)’s office where he was taken to on Thursday for questioning, Obasi admitted to the crime, saying; “They caught me with pirated movies.”
    Although the NCC officials would not allow our reporter take the picture of the suspect, they let him talk to us at length. He is a man in his early thirties.
    He confessed that he was on his way to make supply, having prepared the waybill.
    One of the major films being processed by obasi as at the time he was caught was Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen’s movie, Invasion 1897. He claimed he is new in the business.
    “It was after Invasion 1897 came out. That was when customers were demanding for it, my customer told me to send him some copies of the film.”
    But contrary to Obasi’s claim, prominent movie marketer, Gabriel Okoye, aka Gabosky, said Obasi had indeed been arrested for similar case in the past.
    You must have been doing the business before for you to know that customers are demanding for Invasion 87, The Nation asked. “Customers do buy different market so they know want, I’ve not been doing it for a long time,” he insisted, but added he was merely dealing in foregn films before now.
    “It was where I went to but that I saw this one (Invasion 1897)  na im I cun buy am to go do waybill,” he said in pigeon.
    How do you do the waybill you share to other people for sale? He replied: “Na only one guy call me I cun go carry am so as I carry am dey go do waybill na em police catch me for road.”
    He said further, his voice unstable: “I don’t know, I am just begging the owners of the movies to temper justice with mercy and I promise that I won’t do it again.  I know that it is not good and it’s not that I really want to be doing this business but it is because of my background and assuming I have enough capital I would gone abroad to start a business or maybe be an importer. I am even planning to further my education because I am just an O’level holder.
    “It’s not that am really doing it to wicked the owners of the movies, am just trying to raise money to further my education. Please I am begging for forgiveness I promise I won’t do it again.”
    Who are the people that supply him these movies? “These people are inside Alaba international market,” he said. “Even though the Alaba government is against it they are doing it secretly, Alaba market no allow this kind thing.”How come they are doing this and the Alaba authorities don’t know? “Maybe they are settling some people. “That means there are corrupt officials among the Alaba government? “I don’t know my brother just help me beg them,” were his words.
    According to Gabosky, CEO of G-Media who was at the NCC office early Thursday, “Invasion 1897 belongs to Lancelot Imasuen and it was released by G-Media on the 15Th of February.”
    He narrated the incidents that led to the arrest of Obasi.
    “Majorly, the film is about Benin Kingdom and the position of the then Oba in1897 and Lancelot went to Benin and solicited with the people and the Oba not to allow the scourge of piracy that is bedeviling the industry to extend there with that film Invasion and they promised. So when this pirate, Eze Obasi way-billed it to somebody in Benin, the person returned it to him saying that he will not because he doesn’t want the curse they will place on whoever pirates the movie in Benin to extend to him.
    “This was how the police at Ojo were contacted and they sprang into action. I asked them what their plan was for the pirate, they said they will take him to court because they can’t hold him for more than 48hours. I know that once they take him to magistrate court they will discharge him and they will go without any more follow up. I had to call the NCC since this copyright issue is on exclusive legislative list which allows the Copyright Commission to be the only legal body to prosecute on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
    ‘This morning the copyright commission followed up by sending an officer to Ojo Cantonment, I also sent my own lawyer to supervise and they brought the guy, Eze Obasi.
    “When they brought him here, I now saw that it was the same guy that we arrested when he pirated October 1 by Kunle Afolayan. When we arrested him then, the Alaba people fought that we couldn’t do anything, it became a problem to remove him from Alaba market so we had to use Alaba market chairman to get him to write an undertaken that he will not do this thing again which he did and we seized the copies of the works from him.
    “So when I saw that he is the same person again I asked him; were you not the one who signed this undertaken? He said yes, he say na devil. I had to come here to oblige them my statement, called Lancelot to oblige them his statement. Let’s see what will happen again because we are handicapped by the kind of law we are using to prosecute these criminals.”
    Gabosky lamented that, “Most of the producers are down, some are dying of hunger because these boys are moving from one clan which is Abakaliki and they are just pirating people’s work, getting richer while the government is not doing anything.”
    He expressed regrets that although the Copyright Commission will charge him to court and then start prosecuting him, “but sometimes they will be on that prosecution while the suspect goes back and continues the business because the fine they give them is nonsense.”
    The NCC official, Mr Joe however declined comments on the matter.

  • GABOSKY BLOWS HOT: ‘99 per cent of pirates are Igbo’

    POPULAR film producer and distributor, Igwe Gabriel Okoye, also known as Gabosky, has lambasted his kinsmen for being largely responsible for the intellectual property theft in the country.

    Gabosky was reacting to a social media war that has pitched Kunle Afolayan against some Igbo filmmakers, who have been roasting the latter for daring to tag Igbos in a tweet as pirates of his movies.

    A devastated Afolayan, on Monday, broke down on Twitter, complaining about the activities of the ‘Alaba boys’, a group of traders known for their indiscreet trampling on intellectual property rights of musicians and filmmakers.The criticism did not go to well with some of Afolayan’s fans who suggested he was suffering from tribalism amongst the least.

    Afolayan was in South Africa when a fellow filmmaker, Mildred Okwo, hinted him on plans by the pirates to feast on his latest movie, October 1. She got wind of it and said, “They have built the package of October 1 and are now looking for your master. Be aware.”

    But that was as far as Okwo, co-producer of The Meeting knew, as Afolayan was later to discover that the pirates already have his film, and have been threatening his distributor, Gabosky, that they are about to hit the streets with it.

    Afolayan said it was worrisome, how the pirates operate with impunity. He wants the government to do something fast about the lawlessness of the ‘Alaba boys’ and other hubs of piracy in the country; hence he took his frustration online, in the hope that someone will understand his pains. “You want to know? Okay; the pirates already have October 1 and have been threatening the distributor that they will release this week,” he lamented, adding that despite its cinema inflow and complementary private screenings of the film, he is yet to recoup half of the $2million expended on the movie.

    Expressing disdain at the development, Gabosky minced no words in saying that his kinsmen make up 99 percent of of intellectual property thieves in Nigeria.

    A furious Gabosky said at a press conference, Thursday: “I am here to tell you people that piracy in Nigeria is becoming incorporated; incorporated, in the sense, that the people that are doing piracy now are the big men that you see around. Some of them are former stakeholders in the industry that have found a lucrative job in piracy. And they hide under all kind of guises to say, ‘we are stakeholders.’ Some of them used to be marketers but right now, they don’t have a single shop.”

    Identifying Alaba market, Lagos, as a major hub of the pirates, he noted that the pirates are a dangerous set of people.

    “When I went into Ubakason Plaza and Obosi Plaza, the den of these pirates, 99 percent of the people that are trading there are Igbos,” he said. “So I don’t know why you just want to take criminality and start joining it with politics. A criminal is a criminal and should be pronounced a criminal, whether he is a Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa.”

    Gabosky said that efforts to dislodge the pirates have not been fruitful as they have often resisted arrest by law enforcement officials, whom they usually engage in fierce battle, using all kinds of  dangerous weapons.

    According to him, some law enforcement officials also connive with the pirates. Recounting an incident when he took on a group of pirates with the aid of army personnel, he said, “the Army were confessing that most of these big guys use them (Army) to transport these goods (pirated movies) because nobody searches them.”

    Discountenancing tribalism, Gabosky, a titled Igbo man himself, urged the filmmakers to come together to confront a common enemy rather than being devided along ethnic line. He confessed that piracy is destroying his ‘means of livelihood’, adding that, “in arts business, there is no language, there is no tribe. If you want to purely operate as an artiste, you have to drop your identity. You become a Nigerian to practice art. Kunle, a Yoruba man, makes films that are moving. And I, Gab Okoye, borrowed money from the Bank of Industry in hundreds of millions to make sure that distribution drives the content.”

    Absolving KunleAfolayan from tribalism flaks, Segun Arinze, former president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), apologised on Afolayan’s behalf and described the incident as unfortunate.

    “He didn’t particularly mean to hit out any tribe,” Arinze said. “I can tell you that Kunle is totally detribalised. You can see that from the movies he has done  quality actors across board.”

    According to Arinze, the focus is on piracy. “That’s what everybody’s attention should be on. We should all be fighting piracy and not as movie makers, attacking ourselves, saying, ‘you’re attacking my tribe.’”

    However, Gabosky, who disclosed he has lost about N450 million to the activities of pirates, said he is bitter and frustrated just like Afolayan.

    “Nobody is addressing that this man (KunleAfolayan) borrowed more than N150 million to do a film and he has not gotten one naira back,” he said angrily.

    “And he is showcasing his frustration, telling everybody ‘look at what I am facing.’ And nobody is addressing him and asking him, ‘what are you facing? Kunle Afolayan did a movie and gave the movie to an Igbo man called Gabosky of G-Media to distribute. The man produced the film and brought into the market and came back and told him, ‘look at what I’m facing. The film is being pirated. And I went round the whole country and found out that the films are being pirated and I started compiling names. And I tell you, the names that I compiled; there is no Yoruba name on that list. They are all Igbos and I have the list.”

    Gabosky urged that attention must be redirected from trading tribal banalities to focusing on piracy which he said is the bane of the entertainment industry. Afolayan’s movies – Phone Swap, Figurine, Irapada, and lately October 1 being marketed by Okoye, have been targets of these pirates.The veteran filmmaker and producer of one of the earliest Nollywood flicks such as Nneka the Pretty Serpent and Battle of Musanga, has since written to the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), but he is yet to get their reaction.

    Gabosky who also acquired Half of a Yellow Sun by Yewande Sadiku and 30 Days in Atlanta by Ayo Makun, said he has lost so much money. According to him, he was planning to release Half of a Yellow Sun when he received a phone call asking him whether he has released the movie. “Coming out of the street, you see everybody selling Half of a Yellow Sun.” According to him, Sadiku spent close to N1.2 billion. “She did not make any single money from it. The movie was not released again. It is being sold by pirates.”

    On how to tackle piracy, Gabosky said a group, Watchdogs Against Piracy (WAP) is compiling a list of pirates. “We will tell you who and who are behind it and even where their machines are,” he said, discrediting the activities of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), which he said ought to be collapsed into one. “They are another branch of piracy,” he blasted.“That is the only way to move forward.”

  • Gabosky’s G-Media unveils distribution model

    Gabosky’s G-Media unveils distribution model

    IF there is any filmmaker who is striking the right chord that may ease the major challenge faced by Nollywood, it is Igwe Gab Okoye, aka Gabosky, whose G-Media company is fixated on auditable structures for film distribution and exhibition.

    Experts have identified the absence of mass and simultaneous film distribution framework as the factor that has given rise to incidence of piracy, leading to the impoverishment of filmmakers and other intellectual property right owners.

    In a frantic support for a change, stakeholders in the film industry stormed the Civic Centre, Lagos, last Thursday, as Gabosky inaugurated a nationwide distribution network.

    “Today, we present to you our years of gruesome efforts to provide Nigeria and, indeed, Africa a clean, efficient, technology- driven, auditable motion picture distribution system in all windows, which will rival the best in the world.

    “We present G-Media Stores, your neighbourhood retails stores that will galvanise and organise the government- licensed regional and community distributors into an organised whole, so as to deliver authentic African entertainment contents to their enthusiastic audience.

    “We present to you G-Media online streaming portal for movie and music downloads that has complete DRM protection. We present to you www.g-media.ng that will enable Nigeria entertainment contents to be streamed across the globe,” Gobosky said amidst cheers, laying emphasis on the significance of online distribution nowadays.

    The project is being supported by Bank of Industry (BoI) and FCMB, in response to years of yearnings for a structure that can fast-track film distribution and circumvent activities of pirates.

    He noted that his company had already secured the right to distribute some of the industry’s critically acclaimed movies, including Mahmood Ali Balogun’s Tango With Me, Charles Novia’s Alan Poza, Obi Emelonye’s Onye Ozi, Mitchelle Bello’s Flower Girl and Banned in Nigeria produced by Gabosky Films Limited. Some of these films were demonstrated through the online portal launched at the event.

    “The reason we are where we are is because of poor distribution. People can’t get good movies to buy because of inadequate distribution, which has allowed piracy to thrive. It is time to put things right and that is what we are doing with G-Media. Whether we are selling by DVD or online by way of streaming, the right owner will get alert on how his intellectual property is doing in the market. That is what an auditable process is about,” he stated.

    Among the dignitaries who gave accolades to the project was Mr. Emeka Mba, Director General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), who noted that the entertainment and content industry in Nigeria was making progress with the birth of G-media.

    “I really admire what is happening here. When you place a higher value on contents, then, it means you are willing to invest more money on contents, in order to have something good. So, let’s recognise the fact and work towards that,” he said.

    Also, the Director-General of National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Ms. Patricia Bala, who was represented by the Director of Operations, Mr. Cornel Agim, said she was proud of the feat achieved by G-Media so far.

    Bala said they had been supportive of the project and had recommended experts ensure its smooth operations.

    BOI’s Senior Manager, Entertainment, Ahmed Kagara, who said his bank’s primary agenda was to finance the manufacturing sector, said: “We have been collaborating with Gabosky. We look at the entertainment industry from a purely business angle. We sit down with you; you convince us on the viability of your business and we go on as a purely business decision.”

  • BoI funds film distribution with N3.5b

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has moved to stem the issue of distribution, which is one of the major challenges crippling the Nigeria’s movie industry by funding the first credible and verifiable controlled channel of distribution known as G-Media.

    According to BoI, tackling the issue of distribution, apart from having a multiplier effect on the industry, also guarantees that the whole production process is not jeopardized by market uncertainty.

    The project, which is in partnership with Nollywood distribution giant, Gabosky Films Inc, is being funded out of the $200m earmarked by BoI from an expected $500million grant from the African Development Bank, AfDB, to revamp and enhance the nation’s industrial and entertainment sectors.

    Speaking at the pre-launch press briefing of G-media, Ibrahim Ahmed, senior manager, BoI, disclosed that over N2.5 billion had been approved and earmarked for the entertainment sector, adding that about N1 billion had so far been distributed.

    According to him, the sector enjoys the full support of the bank’s managing director, Evelyn Oputu, who had set up a specialized division manned by dedicated professionals to attend to the needs of stakeholders.

    “The BoI decided to partner with Gabosky because we see the entertainment industry as a business and we are ready to deal with those who are ready to approach us in that light. Our mission is to transform the Nigerian industrial sector and integrate it into the global economy, in order to attain modern capabilities,” he said.