Insecurity is Scaring Filmmakers Away from Epic Movies, Ibrahim Chatta

Nollywood actor Ibrahim Chatta has expressed worry about how growing insecurity is affecting Nigeria’s epic film industry. He said fears of banditry and kidnappings are stopping filmmakers from making historical movies that need a lot of horses.

In a video on his Facebook page on Thursday, Chatta said that the drop in epic film productions has led to less demand for horses at his film village. This situation has made him put on hold plans to expand his horse stable, even after years of providing animals for big Nollywood films.

Chatta has supplied horses, camels, and donkeys for films like “Jagun Jagun”, “House of Gaa”, “Iyalode”, and “Labake Olododo”. He mentioned that he is not buying horses anymore because many producers are now scared to make epic movies.

The 55-year-old actor said, “I’ve lost 49 horses, and I currently have about 27, my lowest number since I started operating the film village. I used to buy my horses from the north, from communities along the border with the Niger Republic. The lowest number I bought at once was 10; I used to buy 15 at a time, but now that my colleagues are scared of bandits and kidnappers because of what’s happening in Oyo State, they no longer come to shoot epic films.

“So I wasn’t motivated to buy more horses. I used to buy horses before and after Eid al-Kabir, when my staff went home for the festival. Still, I didn’t buy any this year because there’s no money. And those who used to rent horses no longer shoot movies because they’re scared of being kidnapped while shooting in the forest. I now buy cows instead.”

The actor also said that the insecurity in the country has pushed him to invest in cattle. He complained about the sudden increase in feed prices for his horses, donkeys, and camels.

“To look after the horses properly, veterinary doctors were brought to the set to treat them, provide food, and so on. When I started my village, I was buying a bag of their feed for N3,200, and now it’s N22,000.

“If you don’t ration it, one horse will finish a bag in a day. In December last year, I witnessed my cows die en masse; that’s the first time I’ve witnessed such,” he said.

He added that when he had many horses due to high demand, he would separate the males from the females.

“When they’re together, they fight and wound each other, and they can die from small wounds. I’ve now stopped my female horses from giving birth, because once they do, they become weak.”

Chatta’s worries about insecurity affecting the filmmaking industry came a month after some celebrities, including singers and actresses, urged President Bola Tinubu to find lasting solutions to kidnapping, banditry, and killings in the country.