Nollywood producer, Ifeanyi Onyeabor, and his partner, Steve James Okonmah, have decided to put the past behind them.
In 2011, Onyeabor was imprisoned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for fraud. James alleged that, through his company, he duped him of several millions of naira.
Okonmah has, however, attributed the skirmishes to breakdown of communication between him and the director.
He said, “I blame the problem on breakdown of communication between us. I was new in the industry and naturally reacted the way someone would react when third parties come to tell him that he was about to lose his investment. Luckily after everything, I discovered that Ifeanyi actually meant well. His lawyer and my lawyer sat down and agreed to withdraw the matter from EFCC, though they tried to pursue the matter out of mischief. Ifeanyi is not a fraudster. Everything is over now and we are back again as partners, looking forward to more projects that would shape the landscape of African entertainment.”
Corroborating this position, the defence counsel, Awala Hayes, said: “In suit no.ID/155S/11 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria vs. Mr. Ifeanyi Onyeabor (aka IGO Motion Pictures International), the office of the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria brought a 7 count charge against Mr. Ifeanyi Onyeabor. These charges stemmed from the petition of Mr. Steve Okonmah of Steve James (Nig) Ltd who alleged that Mr. Ifeanyi Onyeabor through his company duped him of several millions of Naira on the guise that he would produce for him two movies, titled, ‘Young Amazons’ and ‘Tribes.’ The trial lasted three years before it was eventually struck out for want of diligent prosecution on the 26th of May 2014. The case went through 3 different judges, before it was struck out by Justice Ipaye of the Ikeja Division of the Lagos High Court.”
One of the movies, ‘Tribes,’ according to Okonmah, has the potential to be an all-time favourite film from Africa. He stated that the storyline, plot and technical details of the film would certainly thrill the local and foreign film communities.
