EKO NEWS
VIDEO: ‘Unbearable’ — Filmmaker Biodun Stephen Urges Sanwo-Olu To Stop Harassment, Extortion By Hoodlums
Eko Hot Blog reports that Nigerian filmmaker, Biodun Stephen, has decried the persistent harassment and extortion of Lagos State residents by hoodlums, better known as ‘area boys’.
In a video she recently posted on social media, she called on Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, to immediately call the ‘area boys’ to order.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1XUSOmoPfc/?igsh=MTdheDUxMXdtOHFobA==
The filmmaker narrated her recent experience with hoodlums after her film crew’s bus broke down in the Fadeyi area of the state.
Stephen alleged that some hoodlums approached the crew while they were trying to fix the bus and demanded money.
In another location, a different set of hoodlums asked for more money and almost stabbed a member of the crew, according to the filmmaker.
“I want to appeal to our governor. I want to appeal to Hon. Musiliu MC Oluomo. These ‘area boys’ are becoming a problem. If your car breaks, they just come out of nowhere [to harass and extort you],” she said.
“Today, we went out to do a shoot and the bus broke down. The moment the bus broke down, there were ‘area boys’ from different places, asking ‘why did the car break down?’ and saying this is their area. We parted with the first N5,000.
“We parked the vehicle into a filling station. The filling station manager collected N3,000 and said we could no longer park the vehicle there, that he just wanted us park the vehicle there and go look for a mechanic to fix it.
“We were forced to push the bus out of the filling station. When we pushed it out, some boys showed up and said we gave Fadeyi boys money and they’re from Somolu, so we must give them their own. They nearly stabbed one of my crew members.”
The film director noted that the crew was not trying to film in the area, but was trying to remedy the emergency of the bus breakdown.
She stated that, two weeks before the latest incident, her crew encountered some hoodlums who extorted N20,000 from them.
“This is becoming unbecoming. This is lawlessness at its peak. This is not me coming out as a filmmaker. This is me coming out as a citizen of Lagos. This is exhausting. Please, come to our aid,” Stephen lamented.
The filmmaker warned that if the Lagos government and NURTW allow the menace to fester, the state might be exposed to a serious security situation.
“Lagos is becoming unbearable. Please. Please. Please. Please. Do something,” she added.
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