The Black Book: A review of Nollywood movie topping Netflix chart worldwide (part 1)
By Biodun Durojaiye
A repentant ace assassin who found God and became a church preaching deacon had his new life disrupted when his only son, Damilola was set up and killed by corrupt policemen working with notorious kidnappers holding the baby girl and husband of the anti-corruption agency head hostage.
Set in Lagos, Nigeria, the movie is an attempt to reflect the corruption in the police force, and how this is interwoven with the criminal underworld, the political heavyweights and an atypical bad egg in the media. It is also a story of determination, of courage in the face of daunting challenges and of confrontation with evil.
Paul Edima (Richard Mofe-Damijo) was living in quiet neighbourhood with his son, Damilola, his past unknown, after his wife died. There was mutual love between father and son, except that the 24-year old man wasn’t interested in Christianity or going to church despite several promptings by his father.
Then the only child, a baby in a cradle, of Professor Clark (Bimbo Akintola), head of the country’s anti-corruption agency was kidnapped in broad daylight in Lagos traffic, alongside the father. A nanny who was in the car with them and tried to escape with the baby was shot dead.
One good feature of the movie is the creative use of suspense. When leader of the kidnappers called Professor Clark, she told him she had gathered N11.5 million, and that he should just name the place to drop the ransom. But he wasn’t interested in any money. He told her that a s a good Christian, he didn’t want to shed an innocent blood, and so would just kill just one, either her husband or their baby.
Of course, she was lost and transfixed with the phone to her ear. Should she let go of her husband and long time life partner or their baby whom they had after 14 attempts at IVF. It was a no choice. Her world froze. She was hearing the cries of the baby in the background. Then she heard the sound of gunshot.
When news of the kidnapping broke in the media, “a tall, dark man with dreadlocks” was said to be amongst the culprits. A description that could fit one-thousand-and-one people in Lagos, including Damilola.
It so happened that after the news broke, on the same day, Damilola decided to surprise his father by honouring his invitation earlier that morning to come to church in the evening and listen to him preach.
On the way, in a taxi, he ran into a check-point of policemen, a gang of bad ones working hand-in-gloves with the criminal underworld. They first accused him of being a “Yahoo Boy” (that is, he is either into Internet scam or money rituals), and later saw him as a good candidate for a fall guy for the kidnapping.
Despite his pleadings and attempts to prove he was not a criminal of fraudster in anyway, one of them decided to shoot him point blank in the bank.
When news got to Paul Edima while on the pulpit that his son had been murdered, the beast in him that had been caged broke loose. The “most dangerous man” in the country, with a reputation of having carried out 23 assassinations, 113 domestic operations, and involvement in eight coups on the sub-region was back. The man of God had become locked up.
What happened afterwards? What role did the young female journalist whose mother, also a journalist was brutality killed in the course of the job by ruthless criminals, play in helping Paul Edima get justice? What happened to Professor Clark?
Watch out for part 2 of this review shortly.
