Nigerian Government to ban rituals in Nollywood movies 

The federal government has directed filmmakers to remove money ritual content from their movies.

According to reports, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed made the announcment during a media parley in Abuja.

The minister said some of the suspected ritual killers that have been arrested confessed that they learnt the act on social media, adding that this has triggered the need for a change, thereby, allowing the Federal Government to sanitise social media.

He said, “Many have also blamed Nollywood for featuring money rituals in some of its movies, saying this has negatively influenced the vulnerable youth. To mitigate this, I have directed the National Film and Video Censors Board, the body set up to regulate the film and video industry in Nigeria, to take this issue into consideration while performing its role of censoring and classifying films and videos.

“I have also directed NFVCB to engage with stakeholders in the film industry in order to express the concerns of the government and Nigerians on the need to eschew money ritual content in their movies.”

This comes after the recent move by the NFVCB to ban smoking in movies as they passed a non-smoking law in Nollywood movies.

The board’s director, Adedayo Thomas revealed that the move follows evidence of the entertainment industry’s influence on tobacco use and the impact on public health.

Adedayo further revealed that the board will toughen awareness among film stakeholders as it moves to enforce the non- classification of Nollywood movies depicting the use of tobacco.

Pulse/Joy Onu