Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo, has tendered an apology to the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPPAN) after she was warned against her incessant social media outbursts on the ongoing sexual assault trial of actor James Olanrewaju Omiyinka, popularly known as Baba Ijesha.
Ojo’s contrition comes a few days after the Board of Trustees of TAMPPAN, during a press conference, accused her and a colleague, Nkechi Blessing, of making reckless accusations, abuses and bringing embarrassment to the association and the movie industry as a whole.
The actress, on Thursday, took to her verified Instagram handle to apologise to the association.
In a viral video recording of a live Instagram session with the President of TAMPPAN, Bolaji Amusan (Mr Latin), the actress wrote:
“First and foremost, I want to appreciate God almighty, all mercifully, I love you Lord and I thank you for your constant protection, provision and guidance over me and my family. I’m forever grateful.”
She continued, “I will also want to use this opportunity to say a very BIG thank you to all my darling fans and loved ones for your constant love & support … honestly I’m so overwhelmed & humbled, I will never take it for granted.
“To an able and ever-humble president of Tampan @mrlatin1510 thank you very much, sir. Our big daddies @adebayo.salami @princejidekosoko @realyinkaquadri, on behalf of @nkechiblessingsunday my darling aburo & my humble self, we apologise to you sirs. We are sorry for getting you upset. You are our elders and leaders; we respect you, we are humbled before you, we will forever appreciate you and honour you. It’s all Peace and Love.”
Responding in the Instagram live chat, Amusan said, “If a person has 100 cows in his care and one goes astray, the person will go and look for the stray cow as a good leader. So, I cannot neglect Iyabo, neither can I do the same thing for Nkechi. Where she had offended has been amended.
“As leaders and elders, we have to embrace them more for things to go on peacefully. The improvement of our industry is what is paramount to us.”
Meanwhile, veteran Nollywood actor, Jide Kosoko, has retracted a statement he made during a press conference organised by TAMPPAN, where he mentioned that he could frustrate and bring down the two actresses — Iyabo Ojo and Nkechi Blessing.
In a video shared on the actor’s official Instagram handle, he noted that contrary to his outburst, he has no power to bring anyone down as he is not God.
Kosoko also added that the TAMPPAN conference was not to support Baba Ijesha.
He described the actresses as his children, saying he would never want to see their downfall as he, among others, paved the way for their success in the film industry.
“On my outburst about frustrating Nkechi out of the industry, it depends on the way you are thinking. Like many of you said, I am not God. I have no power whatsoever to frustrate anybody out of anywhere. What I said was an attempt to soften Iyabo Ojo and Nkechi Blessing because I consider them as children.
“If for any reason you offend your father and he says ‘I will slap you and you will not use that eyes to see anything again’, are you saying that your father is willing to make you go blind? That is not correct.
“I also went ahead to say that they are our children. I believe we contributed to their success and it would be stupid of us to bring them down. What we are saying is just to soften them from continuously using derogatory statements against TAMPPAN and the Yoruba film industry,” he said.