Investigative journalist, Tobore Ovuorie has threatened to drag Mo Abudu, the CEO of EbonyLife, the producers of Òlòtūré, to court for copyright infringement.
In an interview with Pulse, Ovuorie said Abudu went ahead to produce and release the film without her consent despite knowing that Òlòtūré is her story.
“Òlòtūré does not closely resemble my work, It is a copy and paste of my work. Oloture is my life story. Whosoever claimed they wrote that script should be flogged,” she stated.
Revealing her first encounter with Abudu as regards the movie release, the 40-year-old award-winning journalist explained that she was contacted on May 29, 2019, a few days after the first private screening of the film at IMAX, Lekki.
“I recall it was May 29, 2019, that the executive producer of the movie called me. As at that time, I did not even know that they had done screening. How moral is that? How professional is that? They make a film about my life story without first getting in touch with me to get my permission,” she was further quoted as saying.
When asked if she was truly invited for the private screening, Ovuorie explained that “what was shown to me before running to Netflix without my knowledge shaving my hair while I was asleep, they showed me a Hushpuppi edition of my work. Is this not equivalent to giving me a dud cheque?
“A film that talks about exploitation, itself is exploitative. These are issues! That and now threatening me with her legal team.”
Revealing that she was still traumatised almost a decade after the investigative report went live, Ovuorie recounted getting raped, tortured, and forced to watch the beheading of two girls.
Her words: “To be candid, there are several memories. That which was published is only a minute part of my experiences. I deliberately didn’t put everything out because I uncovered certain things that led me to not release everything I had discovered during the investigation.
“However, there are numerous memories that I have been trying to let go off. I pushed them somewhere in me. The reason is I am trying to move on but to be honest, it has been difficult. For every time I get asked a question of my several close shaves with death, I get flashbacks.
“As a result of the investigation, I slid into depression, anxiety, and panic attacks and there’s post-traumatic stress disorder which subsequently led me to be dependent on medications. I am still in therapy.”
