My stay in prison was a blessing- Iyantama

Your alleged defamatory case against the Director General, Kano State Censorship board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim recently ended with reconciliation at a Kaduna High court, what led to the sudden resolution? The resolution was reached as a result of consultations between my lawyers and that of Rabo where some terms were agreed upon. After we […]

Your alleged defamatory case against the Director General, Kano State Censorship board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim recently ended with reconciliation at a Kaduna High court, what led to the sudden resolution?

The resolution was reached as a result of consultations between my lawyers and that of Rabo where some terms were agreed upon. After we filed the case before a Kaduna High court over alleged defamation, claiming N10 million damages and Rabo failed to appear during the first two sittings saying, his security needed to be guaranteed, my lawyer prayed to the court that it was important the defendant appeared and the court granted the plea by way of ordering that Rabo appeared while it guaranteed his security. Before the day he was ordered to appear in court, there were consultations here and there. My lawyer insisted that if I will have to withdraw the case, the censorship board will also have to withdraw its case against me which has been pending for quite a while at a Kano magistrate court. I initially claimed the sum of N10 million as damages incurred as a result of Rabo’s utterances against me during an interview program on Alheri Radio in Kaduna on 24th May, 2010. He, in the radio program, said I have been operating my film company, Iyantama Multimedia for years without registration, which is not true. So finally, the case ended with a reconciliation on the basis that both of us waive our cases against each other and allow peace to reign.

On what terms was the agreement made?

It was based on three terms. The first was that my company, Iyantama Multimedia was registered as a business name vides a certificate of registration, KN/0010927 dated the 16th day of December 1997. The second term was that the defendant’s statement that led to the suit was based on a search report made at the Corporate Affairs Commission for a limited liability company, and thirdly, that the parties in the suit have in pursuance of the pre-trial conference conducted on the 28th day of September, 2010 resolved to terminate the suit and the criminal case pending before Chief Magistrate Court 7,  Noman’s Land between the Kano State Censorship Board and Iyantama with case number KA/CMC/28/08. The terms of statement was jointly signed by Barrister Mohammed Sani Katu, my counsel and that of the dependent, Barrister Sunusi Ma’aji.

You were initially claiming N10 million damages on the issue. Now that it has come to an end this way, did you get any compensation?

I did not get anything as compensation; the case ended with terms of agreement as I outlined earlier. The main gain is I terminated the case in Kaduna and the censorship board also waived its case against me, which was pending here in Kano. So I think the victory is worth celebrating, especially that it was made clear that I was not operating illegally. I am happy that the world now knows that Iyantama has been operating legally since inception in 1997.  I have my registration with the state’s ministry of commerce, I have that of the censorship board as well as that of the

You were once convicted months in prison, can you give an insight into what prison life is like?

Of course, I can remember it vividly, it was a life experience for me and I thank God. It was not easy but has turned out to be a blessing to me. Talking about how the whole episode ensued, I was first invited by the Police while in my office, they said they were inviting me to give explanation at Noman’s land magistrate court if I were the person behind circulation of my film, Tsintsiya in the state and on reaching there, the whole issue took a different dimension. I can clearly recall that in my presence and that of my lawyers, the state counsel, Sunusi Ma’aji was asking the Magistrate what offences he was going to charge me for after they had told me they were inviting me for mere clarification. They then charged me for operating my company without registration, the second count charge was for releasing Tsintsiya without censoring, of which I am aware that as far as the censorship board law is concerned, films sponsored by United Nations organizations need no censoring and afterall, I did not release the film in Kano, I released the said movie in as far as Lagos, the name of its distributor was attached on the pack and I sincerely didn’t know how it found its way to Kano. Also, prior to the release of the film, it was announced in the media. I told the court I was innocent of all the charges but I was detained in police custody on the order of the judge where I spent two days. When we went to the court the following Monday for hearing of the case, the court said my charge was criminal, I was remanded at Kano Central Prison for three days.  I was after the three days due to efforts of my lawyer bailed while the case continued. But the bail was broken when the court put me on bench warrant on the basis that I abstained the court on a day slatted for continued hearing into the matter and honestly, I was at the Airport magistrate court, I was then sent to Goron Dutse prison and finally convicted and sent to three months in prison with a compulsory fine of N300,000 on the first count charge while I was sentenced one year in prison with an option of N10,000 fine. So in total, I spent 63 days in detention before the case was ordered to be retried by a higher court.

What part of the prison experience can you remember?

I can vividly remember everything. Staying in there accorded me the opportunity to relate and mingle with people of different backgrounds and characters. I understood that majority of the inmates were in prison on very negligible issues which ordinarily would have been resolved without going to prison, a lot of them are there because they have no godfathers or are less privileged. The settlement in prison is on its own an experience. I learnt that even in there, people make businesses; their ability to invent and understand strange language among themselves is also amazing. Being a filmmaker, I was amazed by every single little thing and therefore made friends with other inmates. I was more like a journalist in prison; I carried out series of interviews with the inmates from which I was able to gather dozens of ideas from which I am currently working to put into films. I learnt of so many names, even the unimaginable in prison, I learnt of names like Jan wuya, Tabara, Chakude, Ta chukurkude, Mutuwa, Ajali, Kata’i and so many others. That is why I said being in prison has turned out to be a blessing to me and I never regretted it. I had the opportunity to know how different crimes and lots of mischievous activities are committed, I was so popular in prison and was treated like a king, they were so nice to me, my co-inmates respected me a lot. What fascinated me most about my stay in prison was the kind of people that visited me. I was able to keep a record of up to 7800 people that visited, apart from my known friends and relatives despite the fact that some were denied access to seeing me. They gave me the strength and courage.

 

So what name were you bearing while in prison?

I was not given a name, I was simply called Iyantama.

How did you cope with the type of food and mosquitoes in prison?

I joined other prisoners in eating the food prepared in the prison from the initial stage but when I was convicted, it was approved that I could be served with food from outside. As for mosquitoes, we were twenty in a room and all had mosquito nets, therefore, mosquitoes were no problem. But all the same, the prison’s food and environment were okay, I see it as an opportunity to have experienced it. I am now better informed, if I happen to be in authority in the future, I definitely have the ambition of improving the condition of our prisons with particular reference to prisoners’ welfare.

So what are you promising fans out of your prison experience?

My promise for them is that they should expect a high rated film made of legacies from the four walls of the prison. I am working on it and assure that it will be the best ever. I have also written a song, my stay in prison. Lastly, I want to tell people to all times stand and exercise their rights and they shall prosper.