After spending seven days in the den of their abductors, Nollywood stars Cynthia Okereke and Clemson Cornel (Agbogidi) have regained their freedom.
The news of their release was announced by the Actors Guild of Nigeria, which disclosed that the duo were released unhurt
“This is to inform the public that the kidnapped actors, Cynthia Okereke and Clemson Cornel, have been released, unhurt,” the guild’s Director of Communications, Monalisa Chinda Coker, said in a statement on Wednesday.
She quoted the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ejezie Rollas, as saying that they were freed by their abductors “who were touched by the spirit of God to set them free and unharmed”.
“The guild has arranged for medical checks and psychological support for the victims,” she added.
“On behalf of their families, the National President expressed our heartfelt appreciation to the Nollywood industry and Nigerians at large for the support and prayers during this trying period.
“He urged members to be security conscious on and off movie sets and always take precautionary measures on their security at all times.”
It would be recalled that the Nollywood stars were declared missing on Saturday, July 30 after their families could not reach them following their work on a film set.
Days later, their kidnappers reportedly contacted them, asking for a $100,000 ransom.
But Rollas said the Guild could only raise N1.2 million, a sum the abductors laughed off.
He said: “While talking to the abductors, we were trying to explain to them that we were putting some funds together, we were contributing. We said that we had about N1.2 million. And they started laughing at us.
“They started mocking us and saying, ‘all those your celebrities posting on Instagram, why haven’t they contributed?’