IMN Lambasts
IMN Lambasts Nollywood Actor, Edochie over ‘ignominious’
role in Army Sponsored Movie against Shiite Muslim
Leader
Our attention has been drawn to a-12-minute video clip by the
Nollywood actor, Pete Edochie on his Facebook page, as he laboured
to explain his role in the Nigerian army sponsored film, “Fatal
Arrogance.”
We find his explanations inexplicable, his reasons flawed and
his excuses unimpressive, irrational, and at best absurd.
Firstly, any serious artist worth the name must first of all
undertake some kind of serious research to get the facts of any
script brought to him right. This must be done through intense
reading of the literature and interviews with scholars who are
conversant with the facts. Pete Edochie did none of that.
Had he been bold enough to cross check, he would have realized
that genocide took place in Zaria in 2015 where over a thousand
Nigerian lives were wasted by the sponsors of the film. He would
have come across the very many attempts by the perpetrators to hide
these heinous crimes, firstly by the burial of their victims in
mass graves, an internationally recognized crime against humanity
as reported by Amnesty International. He would have realized that
the matter is currently a subject of investigation by the
International Criminal Court (ICC). He would have realized that the
script before him is a continuation of that desperate attempt to
distort facts.
Had Pete Edochie cared to carry out a background check on the
scripts given to him to act, he would have realized that the
Islamic Movement in Nigeria has been victorious in all the over ten
different cases it was in court against the government and
perpetrators since that genocide. The government, with all its
might and powers has never proven any case of crime or terrorism
against it, its leadership or members in any court of law.
He would have come across the blunt truth stated by Honourable
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, then of the Abuja Federal High Court
that, “Invidious unobtrusive acts of intolerance by majority
Muslims who follow the Sunni school of thought against the minority
Muslims who follow the Shiah school of thought is an important
factor escalating the current crisis leading to the continued
detention of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the
continued incessant persecution of its members.”
If Edochie has any character as he claims, he would not have
accepted to act any role in a film that seems to change the
narrative and distort history based on a book distorting facts! If
he had any integrity, he would not have accepted to appear in a
movie tarnishing the image of an oppressed personality like Sheikh
Zakzaky and still think he did nothing wrong because the Sheikh was
not mentioned by name. Edochie has thrown his professionalism to
the winds as he chose to be paid to distort historical facts, yet
claiming not to refer to anybody, when clearly the cast bears all
the telltale signs of mischievous attempt, at not only demonizing
IMN, but also Islam as a whole. Peaceful protesters of the Movement
are mischievously depicted as armed protesters, with guns and
knives tasty for the blood of the innocent. Yet, Edochie would
rather that we waited for him and his perpetrator sponsors to
complete their denigration and manipulation before we
complain, even as we have seen enough to convince us of their
wicked intents.
Pete Edochie also claimed that his life was threatened without
saying by whom in an attempt to give the Movement a bad name and to
attract cheap sympathy from Nigerians. The petition written by the
Islamic Movement in Nigeria to the Inspector General of Police and
the Film’s Censors Board doesn’t threaten anyone’s life. Issuing of
threats has never been in our character.
Finally, the bottom line is that Pete Edochie should be
honourable enough to accept that he allowed himself to be used to
further vilify victims of one of the worst state-sponsored
massacres of its citizens. He could still redeem his name as other
actors in the ill-fated film are doing.
SIGNED:
IBRAHIM MUSA
PRESIDENT MEDIA FORUM
ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA