Popular Nollywood actress and producer, Omoni Oboli has explained her decision to keep mum despite the controversy that has trailed the release of her blockbuster movie Okafor’s Law.
Okafor’s Law which premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival has been the subject of litigation after a Canada-based writer Jude Idada accused her of intellectual property theft.
Idada who claimed to be the owner of the film’s story also claimed to have authored part of the script without getting due credit or remuneration.
But at a media briefing for the 8th Nigeria Integrity Film Awards (HomeVida) where another of her efforts Wives on Strike won the top prize in the Feature Film category on Saturday, December 2, Oboli said her decision to remain silent on the controversy was to allow the matter take its course in court.
However, she maintained that the script of the film was entirely conceived and written by her.
Furthermore, the thespian urged the government to step up effort to combat piracy in the entertainment industry.
“It is only government that can fight piracy because it has to involve the army, police; it’s a major battle,” Oboli said.
While blaming the widespread piracy of movies largely on a huge disparity between demand and supply, she called for the sanitisation of the movie distribution chain in the country.
She said, “First thing is (that) when there is demand and there is no supply, there will be piracy.
“There are so many parts of Nigeria that our movies do not get to. Even Lagos that it gets to, my movies are on the streets of Lagos… So, there’s a huge demand for our movies but there is really no organised supply.”