Yoruba Film Makers "Alaba Piracy Might Escalate To Intra-tribal War"

Piracy: Yoruba Film Marketers Cry For Help
CHAIRMAN of the Yoruba Video Film Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (YOVIFPMAN), Alhaji Saheed Ishola Ayedun has appealed to the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor. Dora Akunyili to save the Yoruba film industry from total extinction as the industry suffers huge losses from piracy.
In a chat with our correspondent in his office at Idumota, Ishola, said the activities of pirates have crumbled the business activities of Yoruba film marketers. He noted that unless, something is done urgently, the marketers may be totally run out of business.
Conspicuously displaying the DVD, said to emanate from Alaba International Market, which has about 14  different Yoruba films, Ishola said his association has formally written to the Censors Board and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) for protection however, nothing seems to be coming from that quarters for now.
"We have written to the NCC and the Censors Board on this issue. We have held series of meeting with these two bodies but their response is not as fast as we expect because we are really suffering from piracy. Most of our members take facility from banks to produce their jobs and these Alaba people are killing us, destroying the future of our business and further impoverishing our artistes".
Lamenting the huge losses recorded by his members over the piracy issue, he said "These pirates put between 6 and 20 different Yoruba films in a single DVD and sell at a highly ridiculous price. You can imagine a movie that was released on Monday to be in circulation by the pirates on Tuesday!
We are indeed suffering and something must be done urgently to stem the tide before it develops to an intra-tribal war. How can these people come here, make money from our land and still kill our business. We will never allow this to happen".
Appealing to Akunyili to step into the case bearing in mind her antecedent at NAFDAC, he said the association has formed a raiding committee that will see to it that anybody caught selling the pirated copies of Yoruba films will be adequately dealt with and handed over to the police. "The Nigerian Police force has really assisted us in this case. We look forward to them to help us more in the weeks ahead because we are going all out to fight for the survival of our business. I enjoin other regulatory authorities to support us in this fight against piracy. The support of both NCC and the Censors Board should be now and immediate. We must be made to feel that we have regulators, and not leave us to be on our own" Ayedun fervently concluded.