October 16, 2013 has been fixed by
Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal
High Court sitting in Lagos, for the
commencement of trial in a N120
million copyright suit filed against music
star, Innocent Idibia, popularly known
as 2Face, his wife, Annie Idibia and
their manager, Anthonio Anifite over
photographs allegedly taken at the
recent traditional wedding of the music
icon and his wife in Akwa Ibom State.
Emmanuel Okolo, an Abuja based
photographer alongside his studio,
Papilonmexy is asking for six reliefs, two
of which include N100 million in general
damages and N20million in exemplary
damages.
Neither 2Face nor his wife was
represented in court at the resumed
hearing of the case yesterday. Their
manager, Anifite was however
represented by his counsel, J.O Uttute.
Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued when
the judge openly admonished Uttute
after claiming he had filed his defence
when he had not done so.
The judge, apparently irked, warned him
not to show up in court again if he was
not prepared for the case. “You told me
that you have filed your response, but
looking through here, there is nothing
to that effect. And you are even
smiling.
Do you think you are here to joke?
Never come to this court again if you
are not prepared. You don’t even know
when the case was filed and you are
not prepared for it,” the judge said.
Also, the plaintiff’s counsel, Habeeb
Oredola expressed worry over the
defendants’ inability to appear before
the court or be represented by a
counsel after they were served with the
writs of summon.
In the writ of summon, Okolo and his
studio claimed they were contracted by
2Face’s wife through a third party,
identified as Ms Chineze Anyaene to
take photo shots at the traditional
wedding held in Eket, Akwa Ibom state
in March, 2013.
The plaintiff said, he was reluctant at
the beginning since the offer was
coming through a third party, but later
accepted after he was convinced that
the offer was actually with the blessing
of the first defendant.
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