Nigerian entrepreneur and media personality, Linda Ikeji, has announced her upcoming film, The Night of June 7th, which is based on a true story.
The filmmaker wrote on her Instagram page on Monday, April 22, 2024, that it’s one of the many things she’s proud to have done.
“My second feature film, The Night of June 7th (inspired by true events), is coming to you in 2024. If you loved (or didn't love Dark October...lol), you will love this! This movie was written and produced by me, and I can't wait for you guys to see it. It will take you through all kinds of emotions. The Night of June 7th is coming, y'all,” she wrote.
It's unclear what true event the movie is based on, but a popular June 7 incident in Nigeria, known as Apo 6, happened on that day. On June 7, 2005, five young Igbo men, Ifeanyi Ozor, Chinedu Meniru, Anthony Nwokike, Paulinus Ogbonna, and Ekene Isaac Mgbe, along with Augustina Arebu, Ozor's wife, lost their lives.
The six of them were brutally killed at a police checkpoint in Gimbiya Street, Area 11, Gariki, Abuja by officers of the Nigerian Police Force, under the command of former deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Danjuma Ibrahim. The confrontation was reportedly due to the female victim’s rejection of the senior officer's romantic advances at a nightclub in the city.
Ikeji has previously made a feature film that was based on an actual event. The Aluu 4 lynching was one of the delicate subjects covered in the 2023 release of the movie Dark October.
The film tells the story of four university students in Nigeria, who went to a particular area in search of a debtor who owed one of them. Unfortunately, the debtor raised a false alarm and alleged that the boys came to rob him of his valuables; mobs then paraded the boys as thieves and lynched them. The mob attack, however, sparked a nationwide crisis.
Gideon Okeke, Charles Lenny, April Chidinma, Ali Nuhu, Dante Okere, and Femi Branch are among the actors billed to star in The Night of June 7th.