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Commercial
Printers Confiscate Magazine’s Artwork
On December 12, 2007, a Lagos-based
commercial printing press confiscated the finished artwork of Sophar
Nigeria Limited, publishers of The Business Eye Magazine, one of
Nigeria's weekly business journal, materials meant for the magazine's
edition 24 which was planned to hit the news stands on Monday, December
17. The printing press is owned by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ
Embassy Church.
The editor-in-chief of The Business
Eye, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, said Global Plus seized the materials,
claiming a portion of the cover story for the edition titled 'In God's
name Plc' was offensive to Pastor Oyakhilome.
The portion in question reads: "In many
cities in Nigeria, factory sites, warehouses and other business concerns
are fast giving way to churches...In Lagos, for instance, the contest to
buy up any available sites, including closed down factories is even more
intense among churches like Chris Oyakhilome's Christ Embassy and Chris
Okotie's Household of God
"Around the Oregun Industrial
axis in Lagos, the churches are buying up almost everything in a
desperate effort to assert dominance over the area."
Semenitari said the drama leading
to the seizure of materials started on the night of December 12 when
The Business Eye's Creative Director, Victor Omo-Amayo, got
to the office of the printers and, as usual, submitted the materials for
the edition for printing, adding that he was later informed on telephone
by Kayode Olurombi, Global Plus' marketing manager, that they would not
print because of the cover story.
For this reason, the publishers had to
take another copy of the finished work to another printing firm, pay
more and in the heat of these challenges, magazine could not hit the
newsstands on schedule.
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