‘Respect journalists, respect creatives’ – Journalist, Aledeh knocks Mo Abudu for plagiarising Ovuorie’s work for Oloture

Sulaiman Aledeh,, a colleague of investigative journalist, Tobore Ovuorie has knocked entertainment entrepreneur, Mo Abudu for plagiarising the work of Ovuorie to produce the movie, Oloture without giving her due credits and then passing the work off as an original.

Aledeh in a piece said, “I was thrilled by the great artistry shown in the movie ’Òlòtūré’ but every scene I saw reminded me of a very deep, heartfelt story of a close Nigerian woman, Tobore Ovuorie. The movie painted vivid pictures of Tobore and her unflinching investigation of prostitution in Nigeria. To just mention her name and say the movie doesn’t represent true-life events is discrediting of her hard work and rare character.”Òlòtūré Is Tobore! And she should get every credit of and from it. She deserves it. She never got enough acknowledgements as the producers mentioned Premium Times, Tobore herself and all the journalists that *inspired* the film. Inspired!

“At the end of the movie, they said it’s a work of fiction and any resemblance to life occurrence is coincidental. No Way! Not this story I heard from Tobore and have seen in Òlòtūré. This isn’t a coincidence.  The producers should give due credit to the source and say it’s based on the story of Tobore Ovuorie. She should have permitted to shoot the events that have a place in her life. She put her life on the line.

“And some people are making mincemeat of her hard work and labour and taking loaves of bread from her rigours. Haba! It is not a Netflix original. It is not. Oh, maybe that’s how it is couched; “a Netflix Original”. Again, Òlòtūré is Tobore!

“This even strikes deeper because I sat with the woman during her recovery and everything about her life had changed. She had a swift turnaround. The things she faced in the line of duty, to bring stories home. Tobore endured a traumatic phase after her story and suffered a great loss to bring this story to life.  And you say it’s a Netflix original, coincidental? NO! Lie! Not true!

“She should be given everything she deserves. There must be a proper acknowledgement that it’s based on a true story NOT a fiction. She should be invited to movie premiers and other events as a speaker. She should be given some amount of consideration; supporting a charity that deals with the issues and victims she encountered. Don’t forget she saw people being killed. Could have been her.

“Respect journalists, respect creatives, value their works, pay for the toils of talents! Do the needful. Do!”