![]() When you settle one set, another set will come.” On this assertion, Stephen said, “When one is shooting scenes at any place, money for area boys must be kept aside. It is noteworthy that settling a group of louts is not a guarantee that work would run smoothly for the filmmakers. They will not plead for money but forcefully say, ‘owo wa da? (Where is our money?) They can delay production for hours or a whole day so we have to dance to their tune.” “Once they see us from Lekki Phase One, they will chase our equipment bus. Once one crosses the bridge, one has automatically entered the lion’s den. Lagos Island is the worst place to shoot a movie. They could switch off the generator if we don’t settle them. There was a time an actor was stabbed and a director’s head was broken by area boys. She stated that whenever she and her team appealed to people around the movie location to maintain silence while shooting a scene, they would tell her to pay them because she was in their neighbourhood. Stephen also said that the extortion was not limited to the area boys, adding that passersby and roadside sellers were part of it. ![]() How do we know this? Our bus was impounded with the film equipment inside. We explained to them that the side mirrors were broken in the morning by area boys but they insisted that we should have gone to the police station to report the issue. “In the evening that I and my team were shooting, Vehicle Inspection Officers saw the bus and said it had no side mirrors. They initially demanded N20,000 but we negotiated it to N3,000. If we take a generator along, we have to pay for them. They hung onto the bus and demanded money. ![]() My team and I were not even filming at that spot. In the second week of October 2022, we were passing through Ajah, Lagos, and the area boys broke the side mirrors of the location bus and removed its wiper. I don’t know where to start from because I encounter them in all my projects. In the midst of 20 of them, I always shout to condemn their act anytime they disturb us. She said, “The touts know me because I always tackle them. ![]()
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