Police arrest five over ‘piracy’ of Toyin Abraham’s ‘Malaika’

The Lagos police command has arrested five suspects, including two women, over the alleged piracy of ‘Malaika’, a movie produced by Toyin Abraham.

‘Malaika’ premiered in Lagos on December 17. It also made its theatrical debut on December 22.

NAN reports that Aminat Mayegun, the spokesperson at the Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon in Ikoyi, Lagos, paraded the suspects on Tuesday.

Mayegun said the suspects were allegedly involved in the conspiracy, infringement on intellectual property, piracy, and cyber-related crimes with the unlawful utilisation of cyberspace to broadcast the movie.

The spokesperson said a criminal complaint was lodged by Abraham and Seun Olayemi, the co-producer of the movie.

Mayegun said the petitioners alleged that some elements had criminally pirated their latest movie.

According to her, the complainants said the suspects unlawfully and fraudulently accessed the movie, uploaded it on their website and created a streaming web link for their social media followers worldwide to freely view the movie.

The complainants claimed the suspects had infringed on their intellectual rights and were denying them their movie profits.

She said there were follow-up coordinated actions by crack detectives and further investigations on the case that led to the arrest of the suspects.

Mayegun said Idowu Owohunwa, the AIG at Alagbon FCID, assured that the police are determined to continue to collaborate with the movie industry and the Nigerian Copyright Commission to rid the space of criminal elements.

Reacting to the arrest, Abraham said she had panic attacks and was hospitalised due to the piracy of movies.

Abraham said she has taken up the fight against pirates for the benefit of everyone in the entertainment industry.

She also commended the police for matching their words with action by arresting the suspects.