Lecturer Admits Giving Wooden Guns to Movie Producers Paraded as Kidnappers
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RIVERS STATE: A lecturer of the Department of Theater Arts, Federal College of Education, Technical,Omoku in Rivers state, Diepreye Precious has admitted giving wooden guns to two movie producers arrested by the police for alleged kidnapping.
The state police command had recently paraded two movie producers, identified as Samuel Bobmanuel and Justice Nwigbara as kidnappers.
The suspects, however, denied the allegation, saying,they were movie producers.
Corroborating the suspects’ claim, The lecturer revealed that contrary to the claim of the police, the two men are movie makers, whom he gave the the guns for the purpose of producing a movie.
The Theater Arts lecturer insisted that the movie producers did not need license from the Police to use wooden gun for movie production, adding that what they needed was only their identity cards as actors.
The lecturer, who is a member of Port Harcourt branch of National Association of Theater Arts Practitioner of Nigeria and the technical personnel of the association, said he will stand by the movie producers.
It would be recalled that the Rivers Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, had paraded Bob Manuel from Oron in Akwa-Ibom State and NwiIIgbara from Baani in Khana Rivers state as kidnappers arrested by men of police anti-kidnapping unit at Rumuosi part of Port Harcourt when they were planning to embark on kidnap mission.
But Bobmanuel had explained to journalists during the parade that the men of anti-kidnapping unit of Miniokoro saw his colleague, Mr. Nwiigbara at Rumuosi during stop and search and collected his handset.
He revealed that the police saw the picture of NwiIIgbara with carved wooden AK 47 rifle in the phone and started interrogating him.
The movie producer stated that his colleague told the Police he was into film production and they brought his colleague to their office, Lavanz Film Academy, to confirm that claim.
He added that the Police arrested him and took all the carved wooden guns they used in producing a recent film ‘shooting spree’.
“I pleaded with them to allow me call my lecturer who own the carved wooden guns to bring the license but the Police refused and took me to a place where they snapped us with the carved wooden guns and throw us inside their cell’.
Explaining further, he said “when I wanted to start the film production I approached Choba DPO to give us a realistic gun, but he declined that we cannot use real guns”.
“I approached one of my lecturers since I am a student of Theater Arts and he gave me his own carved wooden guns and promised to bring the licence if Police ask of it “.
The suspects regretted that the Police officers who arrested them confiscated their phones and refused to allow them to call the Theater Arts lecturer who owns the carved wooden guns.
