Amazon, an entertainment firm, is requesting the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the divisive film Gangs of Lagos.
The movie, which was released in April, vividly depicts the violent and thuggish culture of some areas of Lagos, striking close to Lagos politics and exposing the bigger weight behind street power, according to DAILY POST.
The state government expressed its unhappiness with the movie through Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, calling it a cultural misappropriation. claiming that the commission, as Lagos State’s regulatory and guardian of culture, saw the movie as a parody of Lagos culture.
The Isale Eko Descendants Union, an organization of Lagos natives, filed a lawsuit against the project.
The union sued Amazon and other Gangs of Lagos producers, seeking N10 billion in damages.
In response to the union, Amazon asserted in a preliminary objection dated June 30 that the Lagos Government lacked the legal authority to control movies made there.
A statement on Amazon said, “The Cinematograph Law of Lagos State, 2004 is not applicable to video and film censorship in the state.”
Amazon argued that the Cinematograph Law of Lagos State, 2004, was passed outside the purview of the Lagos State House of Assembly’s legislative authority, and so the court should reject the lawsuit.
The entertainment corporation requested a ruling that the lawsuit be dismissed because the court “does not have jurisdiction to entertain it” in accordance with Section 25(1)(q) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 Constitution.
“The appropriate law is the National Film and Video Censor Board Act, 1993, an Act of the National Assembly, which has already covered the field,” it claimed.
October 9 has been set aside by the court, which is being presided over by Idowu Alakija, to decide Amazon’s initial defense to the lawsuit.
The first original production from Prime Video Nigeria, which was established by Amazon, is Gangs of Lagos.
