Emeka Ejezie Rollas, President of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN); has banned members from all production sets across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rollas said that the directive is a preventive measure to curb the spread of the deadly disease.
Further, he directed the AGN national taskforce to shut all production sets where members are involved across the country. To help “protect the lives of our members from the dreaded COVID-19 Virus.”
Rollas has also set up a national emergency relief committee to assist members in distress and require urgent assistance. The emergency number is 09096335790.
He advises all members to observe strict procedure processes of good hygiene and immediately report any suspicious health issues and call NCDC on 08097000010, emphasising that nothing should be taken for granted at this delicate time of the global pandemic.
In the same vein, Efe Irele, a Nigerian actress urged Nollywood producers and directors to immediately suspend filming of new movies; to comply with the Federal Government’s social distancing advice in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.
However, the entire Nigerian entertainment sector has been affected by the outbreak. Netflix has paused production of its ‘Netflix Naija’ original series as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Netflix’s directives to suspend production was announced to cast and crew on March 15, 2020, following the U.S streamer’s suspension of ongoing productions across the U.S and Canada.
According to reports, the Akin Omotoso directed series is being suspended indefinitely; in order to help curb the spread of the virus and encourage social distancing.