Curbing Piracy: NetNaija CEO Emmanuel Analike Remanded in Kuje Prison

Emmanuel Analike, the CEO of the popular website NetNaija, was hauled before a Federal High Court in Abuja. For years, many Nigerians have turned to NetNaija to download the latest movies and music for free, but the law has finally caught up with the man behind the platform.

​The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) dragged Mr. Analike to court on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, accusing him of making movies and music available for download without the permission of the original owners. According to the NCC, his website has been a major hub for distributing "pirated" copies of audio-visual works, which is a serious crime under the Copyright Act of 2022.

​During the court session, the prosecution lead, Ms. Gladys Isaac-Ojo, explained that Mr. Analike’s actions have caused deep financial pain to creators. Although the defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges, Justice Suleiman Liman did not grant him immediate bail. Instead, the judge ordered that he should be kept at the Kuje Correctional Centre until Monday, March 9, when a decision on his bail will be made.

​While some fans are pleading for mercy because NetNaija made entertainment "affordable," many experts say this kind of piracy is slowly killing Nollywood. When people download movies for free, the producers who spent millions of Naira on equipment, actors, and locations don’t see a kobo in return. This makes it hard for them to make new movies, leading to a loss of jobs and a drop in the quality of Nigerian films.

​We are seeing a trend where the government is finally taking these crimes seriously. Just last year, in 2025, a similar drama unfolded when FilmOne Entertainment successfully tracked down and arrested a blogger behind the alias Naijaprey TV. That blogger was caught pirating the hit movie Owambe Thieves and even selling access to high-quality copies on TikTok.

​These recent arrests send a very clear message: the days of profiting from other people's hard work are coming to an end. Whether you think the CEO should be forgiven or punished, one thing is certain, the battle of protecting intellectual properties has moved from the streets into the courtroom.