Wylie Agency, representatives of world famous author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has penned a strongly-worded statement in the wake of plagiarism allegations made by UK based Nigerian Anne Giwa-Amu on social media.
In the statement released on Monday evening, Wiley called out Giwa-Amu as unprofessional and lacking basis for the accusations. They also expressed disgust at the manner with which Giwa Amu had gone about the whole issue since her accusation first cropped up in 2016.
Giwa-Amu had made a YouTube post over the weekend, accusing the award winning writer of replicating some portions of her book titled “Sade” for her critically acclaimed novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
In a response to the accusations, Wylie agency wrote “In 2016, Anne Giwa-Amu brought a legal claim against Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her publishers. Giwa-Amu alleged that Adichie’s novel HALF OF A YELLOW SUN had plagiarized her own novel. A professional independent reader was appointed to read both novels. The reader concluded that there was absolutely no basis for Giwa-Amu’s claim and advised that the claim should not be pursued. Giwa-Amu nevertheless continued with the claim”.
Wiley Agency also revealed that not satisfied with the findings of the independent reader, Giwa-Amu proceeded to the courts in the UK and also lost out thereby incurring damage “On 15 February 2019, Anne Giwa-Amu’s claim brought against Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her publishers was struck out by the court. The court determined that her claim was ‘an abuse of the court’s process.’ The court ordered Giwa-Amu to pay Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her publishers the sum of £14,250, which Giwa-Amu failed to pay. The court also ordered Giwa-Amu to pay the legal costs Adichie incurred in defending her baseless claim. Till date, Giwa-Amu has not paid the money”.
They described Giwa-Amu’s allegations as “false, libelous and constitute a harassment to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie” stating that more legal actions are being taken.