Police in Lagos have detained five people in connection with the suspected piracy of actress Toyin Abraham’s new film Malaika.
Ikoyi Aminat Mayegun, spokesman for the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Alagbon, paraded the suspects in front of journalists on Tuesday.
According to Mayegun, the suspects were reportedly involved in conspiracy, intellectual property infringement, piracy, and cybercrime including the illegal use of internet to broadcast the film.
The petitioners alleged that some people had illegally stolen their newest film, which was only released for theatrical viewing on December 21, 2023.
According to her, the complainants claimed that their film was illegally and fraudulently obtained, uploaded to a website, and a streaming web link was constructed to allow social media followers worldwide to freely see the film.
According to the FCID spokeswoman, the complainants claimed that the accused violated their intellectual rights by denying them movie proceeds while illegally benefitting from them.
“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,” she said.
According to a police spokeswoman, these activities, follow-up coordinated operations by investigators, and additional investigations into the case resulted in the arrests of the offenders.
