Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham, has lamented the activities of those who pirated her movie titled “Malaika”.
According to her, this led to her having panic attacks and being hospitalised, adding that she spent N500 million on the movie and was ready to fight those pirating other works.
Abraham, while speaking with journalists in a viral video said she saw the video pirated and posted on Telegram.
The movie was exclusively meant to be shown in the cinema on December 21, 2023.
Police authorities had arrested no fewer than five persons for allegedly committing the crime.
The spokesperson for the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon, Ikoyi Lagos, ASP Aminat Mayegun, paraded the suspects before reporters at the FCID, Alagbon, Lagos.
Mayegun disclosed that the suspects were allegedly involved in conspiracy, infringement of intellectual property, piracy, and cyber-related crimes related to the unlawful utilisation of cyberspace to broadcast the movie.
She said Abraham and her movie’s co-producer, Seun Olayemi, on Thursday, complained alleging that some persons had criminally pirated the Malaika movie.
The spokesperson added that the complainants alleged that the elements unlawfully and fraudulently accessed the movie, uploaded it to their website, and created a streaming web link for their social media followers worldwide to view the film free.
She said, “Following the receipt of the petition, a joint investigation involving the Special Investigation Units of the Anti-Fraud and Cybercrime Sections of the Department was launched, while the unique intelligence and cybercrime assets of the Force were optimally deployed.”
Reacting, Abraham said, “I shot Malaika for almost two months. It’s not easy to shoot a movie close to N500m and you just see it out there. I opened the (Telegram) link and saw Malaika. I wanted to run mad, it was like my whole world was coming to an end right in front of me.”
She added that she cried and made several calls before she and her team started breaking the links of the ones uploaded.
“Google sent us an email that the links had been broken.
“That is why I took it upon myself to fight piracy. This is not just about me but the entertainment industry because this is the only thing we do,” she added.