Six people on Tuesday, were charged to court over alleged piracy of Toyin Abraham’s latest film Malaika.
The police, represented by attorneys from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (Force CID) Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi Lagos, accused the defendants—Kehinde Oseni, Adekunle Segun, Adebiyi Sodiq, Oseni S. Akano, Agboola Motunrayo, and Adebiyi Suliat of stealing intellectual property, conspiring, and attempting to obstruct justice.
Prosecutor Morufu Animashaun informed the court that the alleged illegal activities took place in January at Apapa. The defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of violating sections 411, 972, 415, and 87 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
While Animashaun requested the court to remand the defendants to the correctional centre until the resolution of the case, their attorney, Ganiyu Oyarevuegbe, sought bail for them, making an oral request using the most permissive terms.
The police confirmed the arrest of the suspect in a statement on January 16.
FCID spokesperson Aminat Mayegun said that the suspects were allegedly involved in conspiracy, infringement on intellectual property, piracy and cyber-related crimes concerning the unlawful use of cyberspace to broadcast the movie.
She said a criminal complaint was lodged by Toyin and Seun Olayemi, co-producers of Malaika.
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Police arrest five suspects over alleged piracy of Toyin Abraham’s Malaika
The petitioners claimed that some people had criminally pirated their latest movie, which was originally released for cinema viewing only on December 21, 2023.
According to her, the complainants alleged that their movie was unlawfully and fraudulently accessed, uploaded on a website and a streaming web link created for social media followers worldwide to freely view the movie.
