By Ishola Adeleke, YeyeNews.com, October 19, 2021
An inside source at E-Motion Communications Nigeria Ltd, owners of the LED billboard that displayed the pornographic video in Rivers has revealed what was behind the shambolic act to YeyeNews.com.
Speaking with YeyeNews.com reporters, the source who is a staff of E-Motion Communications, said the two employees who were arrested as suspects have a history of indecent behavior in the company. On the day in which the event happened, the culprits were said to have been on duty when suddenly they got bored and decided to play the “Truth or Dare” game with a fine of 10,000 naira if any party could not keep to a dare. The source revealed that the employee who played the video was dared by his colleague to play a pornographic video on the billboard for sixty seconds, and because he couldn’t afford to pay the 10,000 naira fine, he obliged to play the video. The pornographic video playing on the billboard was said to have caused an uproar and slowed the traffic at the flyover as drivers and passers-by watched the billboard in disbelief.
The Managing Director of Rivers State Signage and Advertisement Agency (RISAA), Hon. Anthony Okea, has condemned the act, labeling it as unprofessional and obscene. Speaking during a press briefing at Garrison Junction where the billboard is situated, Hon. Okeah expressed shock that a pornographic video could make it to a public LED billboard, and said he is highly disappointed at E-Motion Communications.
The Honorable explained that although RISAA is not responsible for the regulations of contents on billboards, they shut down the billboard because playing pornographic material publicly violates the laws set out by the agency.
Interestingly, Okeah also mentioned that he has called the attention of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to the shameful act to know if they had given their approval for a pornographic video to be displayed on the streets, calling it a disgusting act of abuse against the state.
“RISAA mandate by law is to regulate billboard structures in Rivers State. The visual aesthetic of Rivers State is of major priority to the Agency,” Honorable Okeah added.
