Entertainers Vs Area boys: Who is the hero or villian?

Recently, Nollywood actress, Kemi Afolabi got in a street fight with street urchins, popularly called ‘area boys’ during the shoot of new movie Esan, in Ikorodu,Lagos. The hoodlums also attacked the movie producer, cameraman, and some of the crew during the incident which happened in the afternoon of Sunday, March 13, 2017.

According to the actress who posted a video of the fracas online, a number of valuable items were also damaged during the incident.

Also, Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Omoni Oboli had decried the scourge of area boys, especially in Lagos, on movie sets. In a series of posts on Instagram and Twitter, the thespian shared photos and videos of the street urchins who were fighting her film crew. Writing and tagging Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode in the posts, Oboli lamented the endless extortion by the area boys, saying that one of her crew members was stabbed in the mayhem.‘I am totally fed up! Shooting in Lagos State is such a difficult experience. I’ve been settling area boys everyday yet they still fight us.

The other day, they broke a bottle to stab my crew and seized my van key. You have to settle different factions. I’m a tax paying citizen of Lagos State. As filmmakers, we pay taxes even on a loss’, she wrote. Continuing she said: I’m not shooting right now because they won’t let me.

I’ve sent someone to call military personnel before they kill us! There have been other reports from other film makers, music video directors,musicians among others, about varying degrees of harassment and demands by area boys across the country but prevalently in the South West and Eastern part of Nigeria.

The area boy menace seems to have no restriction as they show up to business premises, film sets, locations, in fact, anywhere where they sight people wielding camera equipments and disrupt activities there until they are given various sums of money.

According to reports, giving the area boys money is no guarantee as different factions show up and demand their own ‘settlement’. Last year in Ibadan at a video shoot of an artiste who spoke on condition of anonymity,the police force had to be invited to secure the particular location being used for his shoot as his crew were besieged by urchins who demanded ‘owo ile’ (settlement money for using their turf), a cost put at about N50,000.

“We wanted a location that was rustic and local-like. We had thought of using locations in Ajegunle or Makoko in Lagos but the fear of the area boys,topography, among other factors drove us to Ibadan. We had thought of going to Abeokuta but Ibadan sounded better to me because if we had chosen to also include a metropolitan/city scene, Ibadan would have suited better than Abeokuta. No sooner had we offloaded our equipment on site that about 20 tough looking young men approached us demanding for settlement.

They added that they would help secure our equipment and wade off other factions till the end of our shoot, demanding N50,000 as cost. When we refused, they threatened to damage our bus and kidnap our crew. I had to call a friend who invited policemen to the scene.

Though we had to use another location in Ibadan for the shoot, that particular experience was quite scary”, he said. Though the actions of the area boys may seem offensive, one of them who spoke to Friday Treat said that the demands for settlement was justified! Kamoru Salaudeen,otherwise hailed as ‘Kondo’, is an area boy who lives around Beere in Ibadan. He spoke with Friday Treat after the latter had ‘settled’ him (Kondo) with a bottle of local gin and some naira notes. “They (entertainers) don’t know that we are doing them a favour. It is protection money.

After we see them on TV driving the latest cars and wearing expensive items, they now come to our area that we clean and make useful for their videos and films to operate for free?

We are the ones buying their films and attending their shows. They don’t give us free films, roles or tickets. What we demand from them is small compared to what they owe us for being fans. Plus we do it to keep them safe. Imagine if they are shooting a film in our area and they get kidnapped? Who will the police raid and accuse? Is it not us? So, when we ask for small money, my brother, are we asking for too much?” Kondo asked amidst occasional puffs of smoke from his cigarette.

Meanwhile,the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board, Dele Balogun, in a recent report said the collection of permits will save filmmakers from the harassment of street urchins.

He says a simple permit obtained before commencement of any shooting will enable government protect them and their crew. For now though, both sides continue to trade blames as to who is justified. However,security agencies have advised that film makers and crew employ the services of appropriate security men whenever they go on locations to safe guard lives and property.