Chikas Ohadoma
1 January 2003
Abuja — Executive Director, National Film and Video Censors Board (NF-VCB), Mrs. Roseline Odeh, has warned Nigeria film producers not to engage in the production of films that are capable of instilling violence on Nigerians or derogatory to the religion of others. She also appealed to Nigerians, who may feel offended by such violent and derogatory films to report the distributors and exhibitors of such films to the police instead of taking the laws into their hands.
The Director, made this appeal while commenting on what she described as a "criminal offence" committed by a Pentecostal Evangelist and producer, whom Odeh claimed, released her two films into the market without a certification by the board.
Odeh said the producer was found guilty under the NFVCB enabling law, i.e. decree 85 of 1993, Part 111, section 34 (1) which states that, "As from the commencement of this decree, no person shall exhibit, cause or allow to be exhibited a film without a censorship certificate issued by the board for such exhibition."
She accused the producer of forging the label (the stamp) of the board, which unfortunately was an obsolete one, before putting the film into the market for sale.
Odeh affirmed that the film board is against any film that would abuse or mock other people's religion or insult or instigate others. "The said producer did a film in which she was portraying another religious sect as anti-Christ, as immoral, insulting another religious sect. You can differ from another religious sect but don't mock them, don't create room for quarrel," the director advised.
She noted also that the board has agreed that, "no film maker has a right to insult or be disrespectful to any other religious sect because religion is a very sensitive thing especially where the Bible or the Koran is used inappropriately.
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