Boko Haram Film Producer Nabbed

John Dada Adedayo, the producer of a new film called ‘ Boko Haram,’ has been arraigned before court after he refused to wait for the Ghana Cinematography Exhibition Board to censor certain parts of the film before giving him the green light to distribute it to the public.

The accused person was put before a court presided over by Audrey Kocuvie-Tay and charged for refusing to subject himself to censorship laws, but he denied any wrongdoing. He has been remanded into police custody while the case has been adjourned to August 19, 2013. Narrating events leading to the arrest of the accused person, the prosecutor, DSP Cletus Abadamloora said the complainant is Alfred Kumi Atiemo and a member of the Ghana Cinematography Exhibition Board. (GCEB) while the accused person is a producer and a Nigerian living in Ghana. He said on July 4, 2013, the accused person produced a film called ‘Boko Haram’ and sent it to the GCEB for clarification and approval but failed to wait for their approval.

The prosecutor noted that Adedayo started distributing the film to the public and when the cinematography board was informed it launched investigation into the matter. In addition, the police officer stated that the board, during the course of operation in July, found that 10,000 copies of the film had been distributed and also found that 700 copies of the film were on the market. Furthermore, he said a search on the accused person revealed 913 copies of the film.

He admitted distributing the said copies and the board lodged a report with the police. He said Adedayo was accordingly arrested and arraigned before court after the investigations.