Charles Okpaleke Remakes Shina Rambo

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Since the exceptional remake of Nollywood classic “Living in Bondage,” directed by Ramsey Nouah, businessman Charles Okpaleke has won the hearts of Nollywood fans. He won even more hearts as he went about remaking more Nollywood classics like “Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story”, “Nneka The Pretty Serpent” and “Glamour Girls”.

Though, opinion on these remakes varies, Okpaleke has commenced work on his forthcoming movie on Shina Rambo, a legendary Nigerian armed robber. The biopic will be directed by Ramsey Nouah. Nouah posted the first-look teaser on his official Instagram page with the caption, “Nobody can tell our stories better than we do. Shina Rambo in the making.”

In the teaser, the famed Shina Rambo talked about making a deal with the devil and one of his robberies on the third mainland bridge. “I am Pastor Oluwanifise Matthew Akoko formerly known as Shina Rambo. I made a covenant with the devil,” the former kingpin revealed in the teaser.

Shina Rambo who is from Ogun state is well known for his story as a former bandit and armed robbery kingpin whose name sent shivers down the spines of people in some parts of Nigeria, and in places like Benin Republic and neighbourhood, in the 1990s.  

He turned a new leaf and became a pastor after serving jail time for his crimes. The Executive Producer and CEO/Co-founder of Play Network Studios, Okpaleke first announced the biopic in 2021. He did so via an Instagram post that confirmed the company had acquired the intellectual property rights after a long conversation with the former bandit and that steps were on to make it into an action-packed feature film.

The producer shared a photo with writings and captioned it: “I’m in this industry to tell our Nigerian stories (and we have a lot of them).  

“I’m not perfect but I strive to be, and as a new film maker don’t expect instant perfection. But expect one thing “I’m here to stay” and I’ll get better at it. This is just the beginning guys! We are fearless! We move!! @playnetworkstudios.

Movie Title: Shina Rambo”.