Lizzy Anjorin Issues Cease-And-Desist Notice To Iyabo Ojo, Nkechi Blessing

Nollywood actress Lizzy Anjorin-Lawal has issued cease and desist orders to Iyabo Ojo, her daughter Priscilla Ojo and Nkechi Blessing Sunday. The legal notice targeted over 100 bloggers and social media personalities over alleged defamation and cyberbullying, and fans have been reacting.

Demanding ₦50 million in damages from each party that fails to comply within a seven-day ultimatum, Lizzy accused those served of publishing false and malicious content about her and her family.

Her legal team further alleged that some of the accused went as far as making unverified criminal claims against their client during live broadcasts, without any supporting police report or court judgment.

The notices set a seven-day deadline for all affected parties to permanently delete disputed posts, videos, live broadcasts and reposts.

They are also required to publish a public retraction and apology at the same level of prominence as the original content, and submit a written undertaking to refrain from any further defamatory publications.

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.