Nollywood actor Jide Kosoko has addressed claims that actress Iyabo Ojo was chided by the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN) for fighting for the rights of a minor allegedly defiled by actor Omiyinka Olanrewaju aka Baba Ijesha.
The 67-year-old spoke in a video uploaded to his Instagram page on Thursday, July 1 which he simply captioned ‘CLARIFICATION’. He also tagged members of the board of trustees of TAMPAN to the post.
“My attention has been drawn to the various insinuations that trailed the press conference of BOT of TAMPAN which held on Saturday, June 26 and I want to make a clarification, the meeting was not about supporting Baba Ijesha. I personally condemn any act of rape, I only pleaded that the law should be allowed to take its cause.
“Neither was the conference against Iyabo Ojo’s stand fighting for the minor, what we are saying is that Iyabo Ojo should desist from making derogatory remarks about TAMPAN and the Yoruba movie industry, you cannot because of one person condemn the entire industry. Baba Ijesha will be dealt with by the law,” the father of three said.
Jide dissociated TAMPAN from utterances made by actor Olofa Ina at Baba Ijesha’s bail hearing. He said he believes Olofa Ina spoke from a place of emotional pain and that his remark does not reflect the position of TAMPAN. Olofa claimed that sleeping with people in their industry was a normal thing.
Jide then spoke on his outburst at actress Nkechi Blessing and how he said he would work to frustrate her out of the industry. According to the film star, he has no power to do such because he is not God.
Speaking further, Jide said it was an attempt to soften both actresses whom he considered his children in the industry. He said the industry contributed to the growth of the actresses and it would make no sense to destroy them.
