AWKA—MEMBERS of Film Video Producers Marketers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN) at the weekend staged a protest at the Electronics Dealers Market in Onitsha over alleged sabotage of their business by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).
They accused NFVCB of a deliberate plot to undermine the local film industry which they said, they have worked tirelessly to sustain.
The film producers and marketers, who were billed to release their films into the market at the weekend, were stopped by their chairman, Mr. Rob Emeka Eze of Remmy Jezz Production to avoid infringing on the agreement they reached with the board.
The chairman’s action however did not go down well with the producers and marketers who moved around the market, protesting over the action of the Censors Board who they alleged, were bent on frustrating their business.
Some of them said they borrowed from banks to invest in the production of movies which would have been released last Friday to meet the demand of the Christmas season.
They claimed that over 40 titles of their members’ films were with the Censors Board, adding that the situation was affecting them and the industry as their customers have started diverting to other African countries who took after Nigeria in film production.
Reacting to the alleged sabotarge, the Onitsha zonal director of NFVCB, Mrs. Elizabeth Uwaezuoke denied any attempt to frustrate Nollywood industry, describing the allegation as “cheap blackmail”.
She wondered how the Censors Board would want to destroy a house it is building, stating that the problem was that at the time others were making efforts to obtain their licence, the Onitsha marketers refused because they were contesting the action of the board in the court.
