The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu has come out to say that Nollywood actor, Baba Ijesha will remain in their custody.

He recently revealed this in response to the protest Baba Ijesha’s friend and colleague Yomi Fabiyi, and others held on Wednesday, May 12 at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, for his release on bail.

According to him, the movie star cannot be released until the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria calls off its nationwide strike and courts resume so that he could be arraigned.

He added that Baba Ijesha is yet to be freed based on legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the state Ministry of Justice, and after a prima facie case had been established against him.

His words, “When they got the SCIID today (Wednesday), they were advised by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the SCIID, and he told them that we have done our work and sought legal advice from the Ministry of Justice and the advice was that we should still keep him in our custody.”

“When we concluded our investigation, we forwarded our report to the ministry for legal advice. The ministry advised us through the Office of the Public Defender. The legal advice was that there was a prima facie case established against him and some sections of the law were quoted in the advice. So, the advice was that he should still remain in our custody and to be charged for that.”

What do you think?

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.