I Didn’t Take Anyone’s Land Without Permission, I Bought It – Patience Ozokwor

Veteran Nollywood actress Patience Ozokwor has come out to deny reports saying she seized a widow’s land without her consent. She recently revealed that the widow and her daughter are only trying to gain public sympathy by ruining her reputation.

According to her, she legally bought the land in question 15 years ago, and the widow was fully aware of the purchase, only for her to try to sell a portion of it to someone else.

Patience added that the allegations are fraudulent and malicious, and she’ll involve her lawyers with immediate effect.

Her words, “In 2010 – 15 years ago, I bought a piece of land. The land owner was aware of the sale. In fact, she was the one who approached my agent to help her find a buyer.

Fast forward last year, 14 years later. The previous owner decided it was a great idea to sell a plot out of my land without my knowledge. I got information, went and fenced my land.

Next thing I see, the owner and her daughter on social media crying and accusing me of taking the only land their husband and father left them.

This is blackmail, fraud and malicious intent. I am marvelled that they could viciously lie and castigate me for their own selfish intent. They are using my name to trend and get pity from people. I see that their plans are working because some people are donating to them and calling me unprintable names.

Social media is not a court.

As social media is not a court, I am pursuing legal means to vindicate my name because it took years to build and is my source of livelihood. There is so much more that I could have done, but I chose to let the law take its cause.

I am disappointed that some other bloggers reposted and shared the content without due diligence. Now I say to you “Meet Me in Court”. Thank you to everyone who reached out to me on this incident. I appreciate you all. #MamaGLovers”

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.