The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has embarked on confiscation and destruction exercise of illegal films and videos across the nation as a measures to compliment the federal government Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
The measure was also meant to resuscitate the national film making industry.
Speaking during the public burning of the illegal films confiscated by the board in Kano, the Executive Director of the NFVCB, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, said investors in the film industry in Nigeria had suffered losses among other financial difficulties as a result of smuggling of unclassified works through unlicensed agents and distributors.
According to him, in order to combat the menace of illicit and unapproved movies and videos, 150 staff of the board were trained at various police colleges across the nation to ensure improvement on their operations.
“These actions have helped to tackle the critical and impeding issues of infringement on proprietary rights, bootlegging of movies and other illicit acts in the film industry, recently leading to massive raid and confiscation of illegal films and video works worth over N800m,” he said.
Similarly, in his remark the national President of Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN), Dr Ahmad Sarari called for a law that will compel cinemas to have 70% local content in the list of films they show.