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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