Piracy: Top Nollywood producer, Oketex battles Chinese Government

Oketex

By AZUH AMATUS

Leading Nollywood producer and boss of Oketex Productions Limited, Mr. Okeke Amarachi George is set to drag the Chinese government to court over the recent piracy of one of his latest films, The Jungle Is Mine.

The heinous crime is allegedly being perpetrated by Chinese hotels and resorts who regularly show the pirated work to visiting tourists and business men who frequent Guangzhou, China.

In a chat with Daylight.ng, aggrieved Amarachi, who is also an international business man, disclosed that his big budget movie starring top Nollywood stars and estimated to have cost over N10 million, is currently airing illegally in major hotels and public places in Guangzhou, especially in Nigerian communities.

On how he discovered the piracy of his movie in China, Oketex said some of his friends who visit China regularly called to congratulate him on the movie, which they told him was equally making waves on major television stations servicing Chinese hotels.

“I have been demoralised since friends started calling from China to congratulate me on the success of my film over there.

We just released the movie – The Jungle Is Mine, a couple of months ago here in Nigeria, just early this year. It is still very fresh in the Nigerian market. And pirates are already feeding fat on my sweat, which I’m yet to reap the gains, in faraway China. It is an evil collaboration between these Chinese and their Nigerian syndicate.”

Shedding more light on the piracy of his movie, Amarachi, said they are still investigating the matter and would definitely take legal actions against the cartel behind the intellectual property theft in China, once their investigations are concluded in both China and Nigeria, respectively.

“Our lawyers have concluded plans to officially write the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria over the piracy of my movie and how to fish out and bring the culprits to book with immediate effect.

Our team of lawyers are also working round the clock with their colleagues in Guangzhou. They have also concluded plans to officially inform the Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC), National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), INTERPOL, Nigeria Police and other relevant authorities, to assist us fish out those behind the international piracy of my sweat.”

The youthful Oketex boss, who is also a PCRC member of the Lagos Police Command, called on the Chinese government, through its Nigerian Embassy, to fish out the pirates in the next one month.

“Failure to do this will amount to my company, foreign partners and I instituting a civil/criminal case against them,” added the very bitter producer, who is poised to release an international blockbuster, The Zimbabwe I Know, a big budget international project, in the next couple of weeks.