Toyin Abraham Speaks Out Against Cinema Piracy After Catching Fan Recording Her Film
Nollywood actress Toyin Abraham has expressed her frustration on social media after someone was caught recording her new movie, Alakada: Bad and Boujee, in a cinema. The movie was released in December 2024 to entertain during the festive season and she has been battling with piracy.
She posted a video on her Instagram page showing the incident, saying the person recorded for about 1 hour and 16 minutes before he was caught. She said the recording was deleted and she allowed him to go without any further action. But she warned that if anyone is caught again, she won’t intervene. She also said she’s tired of promoting her work.
She wrote: “They caught someone at the cinema yesterday who recorded Alakada for about 1 hour and 16 minutes, they deleted it and I told them to let her go. Please stop recording, if they catch anybody else, I won’t interfere. Stop recording, they will catch you. Please I beg you in God’s name. Look at me, I am so tired. I just got back from the cinema, I’m too tired, please. I’m working hard to make you people proud.”
This is not the first time Abraham will be dealing with piracy, she had earlier confronted it with her movie Malaika. In January 2024, she revealed that the unauthorized distribution of Malaika caused panic and multiple hospitalization due to the financial and emotional stress it brought. The movie which had a production budget of N500 million was pirated immediately after release and the police arrested several people involved in the distribution.
Piracy is a big problem in the Nigerian film industry and it’s undermining the efforts and investment of filmmakers. Abraham’s experience is a wake up call for stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights and public awareness about the damage piracy is doing to the creative sector. As she promotes her work, she’s begging the audience to respect the creative process by not recording and supporting films through the right channels.
Watch the video below:
