Falz prosecutors take back legal threat

Days after the religious body Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) issued a statement threatening legal action against the artist, the same body has now backtracked, choosing to approach the matter differently.

“With this latest development and even before the seven-day ultimatum expires, MURIC is no longer contemplating court action against Falz, neither are we demanding any apology from him or his management,” says a statement from the body. “The likely pecuniary gain in the event of a court validation of our claims does not interest us. We are no longer looking at Falz but at a larger picture.

“The courts will only be interested in legalities, judiciability and technicalities but the video board will look beyond all that. Is it professional? Is it balanced? Is it truly representative of our country? Is it morally justifiable? These are what will interest the board and they are in tandem with our thinking. We appreciate artists and our aim is not to punish Falz. He is not a lazy Nigerian youth.”

Originally, MURIC had threatened to sue if the video, which is an adaptation of Childish Gambino's 'This Is America', wasn’t taken off-air in seven days. The response from Falz and his handlers was to call MURIC’s bluff. "We are not withdrawing the video neither are we commenting on their claims. If they (MURIC) have any grievance they can head to court and we will meet them," a spokesperson said. It might be this defiance that has spurred the body to change its tactics. The group’s statement, however, points to something different.

“Although he stopped short of apologizing, the artiste has tried to clear himself in published interviews made available to us. According to him, he did not intend to ridicule Muslims,” MURIC said. “He said his intention was to call attention to the plight of the Chibok girls although we think he has done that the wrong way.”