I had panic attack over piracy of ‘Malaika’ – Toyin Abraham

• Toyin Abraham spoke with newsmen in Lagos as the police announced the arrest of five suspects in relation to the pirated movie ‘Malaika,’
• Toyin Abraham stated that she has taken up the fight against pirates, analyzing how she had panic attack and was hospitalized because her new movie was pirated.

Nollywood actress and producer Toyin Abraham, opens up about her distressing experience with the piracy of her movie ‘Malaika.’

Toyin Abraham revealed on Tuesday that the theft of her intellectual property led her to a state of panic and anxiety.

Toyin Abraham met with reporters in Lagos as police announced the arrest of five people in connection with the pirated film ‘Malaika,’ which the actress claims cost N500 million to produce.

Toyin Abraham, who claimed to have taken up the fight against pirates, praised the police, particularly AIG IG Idowu Owohunwa, for putting their words into action by arresting the criminals.

Earlier, the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos, announced the arrest of five individuals, including two women, for alleged movie piracy.

ASP Aminat Mayegun, the department’s spokesman, paraded the suspects before journalists at the FCID in Alagbon, Lagos.

According to Mayegun, the suspects were reportedly involved in conspiracy, intellectual property infringement, piracy, and cybercrime including the illegal use of cyberspace to broadcast the film.

She stated that Abraham and Seun Olayemi, co-producers of ‘Malaika,’ filed a criminal case on Thursday.

The petitioners claimed that some people had illegally pirated their latest 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 view the film.

The FCID spokesperson stated that, the complainants claimed that the suspects violated their intellectual rights by denying them their movie royalties while illegally benefitting from it.

“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 spokesperson, these measures, coordinated follow-up actions by crack detectives, and additional investigations into the case resulted in the arrest of the suspects.

Mayegun stated that the AIG in command of FCID Alagbon, Idowu Owohunwa, had informed him of his solid desire to continue collaborating with actors in the movie business and the Nigerian Copyright Commission to rid the space of illegal elements.