Lucky Escape for Cynthia Okereke, Clemson Cornel

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

If you are a lover of Nollywood movies, you most likely must have seen their faces on the screen of your television set. Chances also are that you likely have seen their faces on posters advertising Nigerian movies. That’s how far their popularity stretches. They are actors mostly operating from Asaba, Enugu Port Harcourt, Owerri and Abakiliki. That’s Cynthia Okereke and Clemson Cornel (Agbogidi). Both were last week abducted from a location at Ozalla in Enugu State. 

Barely 24 hours after, the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, confirmed that their abductors have made contact with their families and demanded the sum of $100,000 to set them free.

Unarguably taken aback by the humongous amount of ransom demanded by the kidnappers, their colleagues reacted to the kidnap.  Efforts to rescue them later paid off on Wednesday, August 3, when they “were released unhurt and in healthy conditions” five days after they were kidnapped. 

However, it is not clear how much ransom was eventually paid to secure their freedom. Showbiz gathered that ransom was paid before they were let off the hook. The President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, said they were released by the abductors who were touched by the spirit of God to set them free and unharmed.” 

Prior to their release, Rollas via a report said he was mocked by the abductors when he told them about N1.2 million had been raised as ransom to free the actors. He said the abductors asked him if Nollywood celebrities’ who post on Instagram have contributed their quota. “Yesterday, 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, how much have they contributed?’ Immediately, it got to me that these people are watching us. It is not the best time to circulate this information on Instagram.”