February 05, (THEWILL) – Linda Ikeji has responded to the threat of legal action from the families of the four students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), who were lynched about 11 years ago.
Popularly referred to as ALUU 4, it signifies lynching that involved four young men namely, Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekena Elkanah.
They were lynched after being falsely accused of theft in the Aluu community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, on October 5, 2012.
The families demanded the suspension of Dark October, a movie produced by the popular blogger on the infamous incident.
The affected families, represented by the Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace Initiative (TIFPI), said they were not contacted for the project.
The statement signed by Livingstone Wechie, Executive Director of TIFPI, said the project reactivated the trauma and psychological pain the families have been irrecoverably battling with for the past ten years.
The movie, which is based on the story of the four victims and the events leading up to their tragic deaths, debuted on Netflix on February 3, despite the families’ legal threat.
Reacting to their threat in a statement, Linda said the parents of the slain students are “backing over nothing” because the movie is a complete fiction work dedicated to the memory of Aluu 4.
She further advised them not to press charges as they are only wasting their time and resources, stressing that the movie does not carry the names or images of the boys nor were their families represented in the film.
“Dear Livingston and partners, thank you so much for the press statement you put two days ago. It brought so much awareness to this film that talks about jungle justice as a menace in our society and the things that need to be done to stop or curtail it.
“You’re backing over nothing. ‘Dark October’ is a complete work of fiction dedicated to the memory of Aluu 4. There are no facts in the film. I wish you’d watch it before taking any action because I guarantee you, you would be wasting your time and resources.
“The movie does not carry the names or images of the boys mentioned. There are no family members represented in the film apart from a fictionalised mother and sister…”
