Kumawood actor, Aka Ebenezer popularly known as Ras Nene was trending on social media a few days ago.
The actor, famous for shooting comedy skits, featured Ghanaian socialite, Efia Odo, in one of his acts at the Achimota Mall in Accra. However, the team was stopped from shooting and denied access to the mall.
But according to the YouTube skit creator, he had sought permission to shoot his video at the mall, so he was astonished the security personnel at the mall prevented him from using the premises.
Ras Nene, his team, and the security guards got into a heated dispute because they did not understand why he was prohibited from using the public area as a Ghanaian.
Some media personalities who chanced on the video were also shocked to see such a thing happen in Ghana. One of these personalities was the YouTube content creator, Wode Maya.
He took to his Twitter page to share his take on the matter. He asked his followers from across the globe if shooting at public places was prohibited. Maya also went ahead to share his experiences.
He tweeted: “Is there any other continent apart from Africa that you need to ask for permission to shoot a video around a Shopping Mall, train station, Airport & so called public areas? When I was based in China, I literally filmed everywhere & sometimes you even get paid to film in such areas”.
His tweet led a number of social media users to also share their varied opinions on the matter.
A comment by Noble Eagle indicated that the right thing to do to avoid such happenings is to seek permission from management because the mall is a private property.
“Each Country with its reality. Shopping Malls are private business properties. The ideal thing to do was to go to the management and ask for the protocol in place. That is the right thing to do. Let’s not compare it to any other place to get frustrated easily. Adapt 2 ur surrondings,” he wrote.
Another netizen disagreed with how the security personnel handled the situation. He was of the view the mall stands to gain from Aka Ebenezer and his team shooting their video, as a form of advertisement.
ICE tweeted: “Whoever stopped Aka Ebenezer and his team from filming ain’t serious! This is a nice way to advertise Achimota mall for free! Do you know ppl can hear the news and rush to the scene just to see Aka Ebenezer and even patronise from the mall”?
Check out the video and tweets below: