A Civil Society Organisation, Initiative for Conciliation and Right Protection, on Wednesday called on Kingsley Orji Anosike, the producer of a film: “Fatal Arrogance,” to stop its production.
The CSO, in a statement jointly signed by some of its members, said the film was inimical to the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria and its leadership, led by Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.
Members who were signatory to the statement included J.N. Netochkwu, Hasan Bala, Comrade G.C. Ekoja, Comrade Ahmad Shuaib, Prince Adelaja Adeoye and Mabel Johnson.
According to them, the film violates the international laws of movie production (Defamation Law).
The group said: “The Nollywood, the leading film industry in Nigeria, is widely acknowledged for playing a vital role in entertainment and public entertainment in the country and across the world.
“But pictures and video clips from the movie, ‘Fatal Arrogance,’ want to drag the good name of Nollywood through the mud.”
The group, while quoting a report from an online platform and other sources, said “the film is a mega project by some elements to discredit the Islamic Movement and its leadership.
“One is left with no doubt that the intention of the script writer was to ridicule the movement and to tag the group a terrorist organisation.
“All these, in their desperation to cover up the crime of Zaria genocide of December 2015.
“It is a clear campaign of systemic persecution of Shiites and sectarian discrimination.”
The group said It was important to note that both Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch have admitted that the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is a peaceful association.
It said: “Moreover, the Islamic Movement was able to overcome several sinister moves to vilify it by this government; hence, government has never proven any case of crime against the Islamic Movement.
“The Islamic Movement has been victorious in the over ten cases it instituted against the government and perpetrators of the Zaria genocide.”
The CSO, therefore, demanded that Anosike “be called to order so that the devastating consequences of producing the film will be avoided and the name of the great Nigerian movie industry, NollyWood, will continue to rise in the world of movies.”