The police in Akure, Ondo State, have promised tough times for players in the movie industry bent on operating in breach of established laws regulating the industry. The Force has warned that anyone who flouts the rules guiding the distribution and exhibition of film and video works would face the full wrath of the law.

While receiving top officials of National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) on fact-finding mission over the threats to some of its operatives in Akure, The Police Area Commander in Akure, Mr. Dan Okoro, expressed displeasure with the actions of some individuals who obstruct federal officials carrying out their lawful duties. ACP Okoro said the police would step in to investigate the alleged threat to life and assault on operatives of the Board in Akure to prevent further breaches.

Okoro maintained that it was unfortunate that some players in the movie industry operated without due regard to law and engaged in piracy and illegal peddling of film products. This, he stressed, not only painted the industry in bad light but it robbed those who put in so much energy to produce such intellectual works the benefits of their endeavor, saying it was a disservice to growth and development.

On the NFVCB delegation were Director of Operations, Mr. Cornel Agim, Deputy Director Mr. Tunde Hassan and Senior Assistant to the Director General, Terry Odeh, Deputy Director and South-West Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Oyadiran Alonge, Deputy Director and Head of Centre, Ibadan, Mr. Effiong Ewang, Head of Legal Services, Mr. Ganiyu, Head of Special Police Unit attached to the Board and Head of Centre, Akure Oluremi Akanni.

The team had approached the police to intervene in the illegal and unwholesome activities of some industry stakeholders in Akure who constitute themselves into stumbling blocks against carrying out the legitimate mandate of the Board, as a federal regulator of films in the country.

The NFVCB team informed the police of threats to officials in the Akure centre of the agency and the non-compliance of recalcitrant groups with the mandatory requirements for operation in the industry thereby short-changing the government of needed revenue and that it also had negative effects on the growth and development of a structured movie industry.