Aggrieved parents of the four students of the University of Port Harcourt (UniPort), who were killed by a mob in the Aluu Community in 2012 have asked the popular blogger, Linda Ikeji and Netflix, to suspend the planned premiere of their movie, Dark October.
The movie centres on the murder of the students codenamed Aluu-4 on October 5, 2012.
The deceased students, Lloyd Toku-Mike, 19; Tekena Friday Elkanah, 20; Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor, 18; and Chidiala Loroson Biringa, 20, visited the Aluu community on the day the incident happened in search of a debtor who owed one of them.
The debtor raised a false alarm that the students were robbers who came to steal his valuables. Sadly, an enraged mob paraded them as thieves. They were stripped naked, beaten and set ablaze.
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by Livingstone Wechie, the Executive Director of a human rights group, The Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace The initiative (TIFPI), the families of the slain students said they were not consulted before the shooting of the movie which has been scheduled for premiere on February 3.
The development, according to them, will bring back unpleasant memories they had managed to bury.
They added that the movie has “reawakened the already doused trauma caused by the tragic killing of their children.”
The statement read: “The attention of the four bereaved families of the ill-fated Aluu 4 incident have been drawn to a widely advertised movie titled: Dark October’ which was produced by a known blogger by the name Linda Ikeji as stated therein.
“For the records and sadly so, Linda Ikeji produced the movie without seeking the consent of the affected families and parents of the unforgettable Aluu 4 victims.
“The question to Linda Ikeji is: Can you cry more than the bereaved or do you not have some conscience and humanity in you as a parent that you have become?
“I have been instructed in writing through my organisation, The Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace Initiative TIFPI, by the four affected families, that is the parents of late Lloyd Toku-Mike, Chiadika Biringa, Ugonna Obuzor and Tekena Elkanah, to represent them and ensure that justice is done in this matter.
“This is to the effect that Linda Ikeji acted both of her own volition and on a frolic of her own as she failed, refused and neglected to seek the consent of the affected and families/parents of these boys whose names and the story of the Aluu 4 incident form the entire essence of the said movie.
“It is important to state that the inexcusable and desperate action of Linda Ikeji on this blood-laced story in what is now christened globally as Aluu 4 or Uniport4, may falsely or arrogantly indicate that these innocent boys do not come from homes and this is not only illegal, it is both inhuman and un-African of one who should know better.
“To this end, on behalf of the parents/families of the Aluu 4, we hold that the production and distribution of this movie by Linda Ikeji without the consent and consultation with the affected families/parents is insensitive, mischievous and unacceptable.
“We, therefore, demand that Linda Ikeji and her business partners including Netflix, FilmOne Entertainment Company, etc, should by this notice, immediately retract and suspend any further actions including the premiering slated for February 3, 2023, and any other date pending and subject to consultations and express consent of the affected families who are at the receiving end of the entire assault
