Federal Govt Urged To Stop Degrading Of Women, Children In Comedy Videos

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), has expressed worry over what it described as pervasive objectification of women and sexualisation of children in skits in the country.

The organisation cautioned that the harmful portrayals and repulsive content perpetuate dangerous stereotypes, validate the exploitation of vulnerable individuals, and foster a culture of misogyny, discrimination, sexism and violence in the country.

The policy and research officer, CAPPA, Zikora Ibeh, in a statement on Wednesday noted numerous instances where these comic videos not only objectify and demean women but also exploit the innocence of children for entertainment purposes.

“For instance, on Sunday, April 9, 2023, two comedians namely: Simigo and Ezebueze posted a now-deleted viral clip featuring a two-year-old girl child who was the subject of an inappropriate sexual scenario and subsequently abused by an adult male, depicted as a landlord in the video.

“Similarly, on April 4, 2023, @Viral TV1 posted a video on Facebook featuring a distressed and undressed hotel secretary who was pleading with a man filming her to stop.

\It was learnt that the individual had initially engaged the woman in a consensual arrangement, but as soon as she removed her clothes while inside a room with him, he revealed that the entire situation was a prank, and a third party was recording. Subsequently, he shared the footage, pontificating on her morals and those of Nigerian women more broadly. These are just but a few out of numerous similar videos uploaded daily online in Nigeria,” she said.

She called on Nigerian comedians, scriptwriters, producers, the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), media practitioners and other stakeholders in the entertainment industry to take immediate and tangible action to put an end to these practices promoted in videos.