Fred Amata Lauds Information Minister's Support For Piracy

The newly elected president of Directors' Guild of Nigeria (DGN), Fred Amata has come out in strong words to condemn Eze Obasi, a film pirate arrested with pirated copies of Lancelot Imasuen's epic film- Invasion 1897 in Alaba, Lagos recently. Mr Amata said it was good that the pirate was arrested and calls for tough sanctions against the offender to serve as a deterent for others who are in the unwholesome piracy business.

"Theft of intellectual properties have remained a major bane to the development of Nollywood as creative minds have continually been robbed of their intellectual and creative efforts by pirates and let this be the time to wage a serious and full-scale war against piracy and its perpetrators," he said. 

Fred Amata praised the honourable Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on whose instance Eze Obasi, the arrested pirate, was moved to Abuja to face prosecution. He also urged the minister not to relent in giving the creative industry his full support to fight piracy, describing the minister's effort as a welcomed and timely intervention.

The DGN president also praised the security agencies who made the arrest and encouraged them to continue the good work so as to rid the industry of piracy. "The present IG of police, Mr Solomon Arase has shown a great zeal in this matter and this is encouraging because our industry needs to be salvaged from pirates."
Mr. Amata also commended his colleagues Lancelot Imasuen and Gabriel Okoye (Gabosky) for the roles they played in bringing the suspect into the arms of the law, describing their roles as encouraging and worthy of emulation.

"I am particularly moved by the efforts of Lancelot and Gabosky, this is what we as an industry need to emulate to step up our fight against piracy. I thank them most graciously and I call on all film-makers to follow their worthy example if we are truly ready to defeat this monster called piracy."

The president promised that DGN will follow the matter to its logical conclusion and see that the arrested culprit faces the full wrath of the law. He also warns other pirates to desist from stealing his member's intellectual property as the guild will no longer tolerate such and anyone caught will face the full wrath of the law. He also urged Nigerians not to buy pirated films for the survival of the film industry.

"For the survival of Nollywood and the continued entertainment of Nigerians, we are appealing to Nigerians and Nollywood enthusiasts across the world to shun pirated films. In fact, report when a pirated film is sold to you.", he concluded.