The duo of Peter and Paul Okoye popularly known as P- Square may have to contend with an allegation of song theft.
Nollywood star actress, Steph-Nora Okere recently alleged that the sensational duo stole materials from Jeje, one of the tracks in her yet-to-be released debut album. Incidentally, the 14-tracker album titled(THE INVATION) released by the twin-brothers on their Square Records (SR) has a song entitled Jeje, and featured RnB/Soul crooner, Waje.
The actress cum producer who is just making a foray into music sampled the opinion of Jude Okoye, the elder brother of the stars, several months ago with her own version of the song.
Steph-Nora reveals that she sought the opinion of the elder Okoye based on mutual respect and his experience as a moving force behind the success of P Square. The visibly upset actress says: “What they did was to remix the chorus of my version to a danceable track. That was not all; they also gave their version the same title, Jeje and featured Waje.”
She explains further: “I sent the song over to Jude via email and he listened to it. The next day I called him for his opinion and he said exactly these words ‘Stephnora the song is good but don’t release it like that because it doesn’t meet the standard of the Nigerian market’. I asked him what should be done and he suggested that I return to the studios and brush it up.
“As a brother and colleague, I took his advice and went back to the studio with my producer, Jiff. I also consulted with my manager, and we agreed to improve on the work ahead of the album launch, which I planned for this December. I finally completed the song in May/ June. But to my consternation, two weeks ago my personal assistant called my attention to P Square’s new album, which included a track entitled Jeje.”
Ope Banwo in his reaction disclosed that he intended to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against P Square next week if they do not respond to their demand letter. “This kind of thing should not be tolerated. P Square is a big group that should not take advantage of up and coming artistes and their friends. Stephnora trusted them and they stabbed her in the back,” he added.
Jude Okoye was contacted on phone,he denied stealing or tampering with Steph-Nora’s song. He however, challenged the actress to go to court if she feels otherwise, adding that she was only seizing the occasion to attract more attention to her acting career.
