I stumbled upon the article below during my early morning browsing to catch up on what has happened around the world during my sleep. If it was written by any other author apart from Kalu Ikeagwu himself, I would not have even read it.
The Nigerian Actor mentioned above wrote on his personal blog that, he narrowly escaped a KIDNAP attempt in Ghana. I have not known Mother Ghana or her people to be mean to foreigners. The hospitality of Ghanaians is amazing and their edge to help foreigners who find themselves in Ghana is overwhelming.
Yet, a brother ( I called him a brother because he is not from any distant place) claims he was nearly Kidnapped in Ghana… Read below from the horse’s own mouth and make your own deductions…
A good week to everyone out there. Not so good week or should I say it has not been a very good month for me. It has in fact been a very harrowing experience to be honest; one I would do well to learn from.
It all began when I was called by a producer through a director friend of mine to do a sixteen day movie production in Ghana. The production was slated to begin on the 28th of June and end on or before the 13th of July. I spoke with the producer, a lady, and on the strength of my relationship with my director friend, agreed to collect my fee when I got to the set.
I didn’t think much of this, being excited at the prospect of working with him again and also the thought of working in Ghana again with its friendly people. I told them I had to come in the following day, Tuesday, as I had some work to complete and they agreed. On the Tuesday, I boarded the plane and called the director to let him know I was on my way only for him to tell me he had been trying to reach me the day before to postpone my flight till Friday as they still had some location problems.
I was numb. I felt like my stomach had dropped from beneath me. I hadn’t even taken off and now this?!I told him I’d already boarded the plane and couldn’t turn back. And he said to come anyway as there was still choreography rehearsals to do.
I got to the hotel at about eight thirty and was met by the director, my friend, who told me there was no problem since I still had four days to choreograph my movement and learn some basic martial arts moves – it was a martial arts movie – before shoot began on Saturday. The producer came later on that morning and we were introduced to one another and she told me she would come to see me in my room later when she finished talking with the director.
I did not see her again that day or the next. I had fun rehearsing though, learning moves that seemed so magical to me before and they were exhilaratingly exhausting. Days passed on to the sixth and then seventh day and still no shoot and were peppered with all sorts of reasons why we hadn’t commenced shoot. With some trouble I managed to get my money and began to wonder why the producer seemed to have no problem burning money on hotel bills and keeping us there doing nothing even after I had told her my days were going by.
I had scheduled my projects with other producers for later in the month and the next so I wasn’t particularly bothered. I just knew when my time was up I would have to leave. The hotel where we were was on the outskirts of the city of Accra and to get into town was to grapple with horrendous traffic lasting up to five hours so I busied myself with rehearsing to perfect my character’s moves, studying my scripts for the next projects and browsing at the local internet cafes.
On Wednesday the 7th of July the director and I were moved to another hotel to gain better accessibility to town. We still hadn’t begun shoot. This was a first for me. I had never seen anything like it. The producer never came around and still did not communicate with me. I had asked her once before whether she was comfortable burning her money like that and she said she had everything under control. I thought then afterwards to keep my thoughts to myself.
Oh I forgot another kicker! I was told that the Ghanaian minister for arts and culture had announced that every Nigerian artist or crew member would be charged three hundred US dollars for every project he or she worked on in Ghana and so the said amount would be deducted from my fees.
I was astonished that such an edict would take effect immediately without me being forewarned about this. In the spirit of goodwill, bemused as I was, I acquiesced. Little was I to know that this was just the tip of the iceberg of things to come in the following days I was to spend there. There were many; armed robbery in my hotel, non payment of hotel bills, my abduction from my hotel in the middle of the night by soldiers among others.
I laugh mirthlessly as I write this because I am still traumatized over my experience in that production in that wonderful country called Ghana. I beg to be let off for now to continue the rest of the story in another post which will be coming up very soon. Have a great week everyone and God bless.
i dont beleive dis crap one bit.i no it anoda plot from da nigerians to spoil ghanas name. but who jah bless no one curse.ghana is a bless country.proud
@inchristalone,THANK U DEAR I AGREE WITH U.I MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED BUT NOT WITH ALL THE NASTINESS.SO HOW COME WE NEVER HEARD IT ON NEWS IN GHANA HERE MTCHEWWWW.TRAUMATIZED MTCHEWW HE SHOULD ASK ET MENSAH WAT TRAUMATISATION IS
He said “…my abduction from my hotel in the middle of the night by soldiers among others” . If I’m understanding correctly, he’s saying SOLDIERS came to his hotel in the middle of the night to pick him up. I don’t see where he said “narrowly escaped kidnap”. My question is, what have our soldiers got to do with this situation? This is really disturbing. Let’s stop living in denial with the “We are a hospitable people” stuff. We still have some VERY BAD people. I doubt if Kalu will just cook up some story. For some reason, I think this has to do with the new fee thingy. I knew this new fee crap was going to cause problems. All it has done is give vagabonds an opportunity to unleash their animosity on others. I will definitely be following his blog to see the conclusion of the story. I need to know what happened cos if the man did not commit a crime, I don’t see why this should be happening.
@Boatemaa,my dear our soldiers have better things to do than “abduct” someone over a meagre 300 dollars. the thing is he said he even paid the money so that can not be the basis for his abduction. who is he for soldiers to go and arrest.total fallacy
@Opanin,totally agree with it
MTCHEEW, and this guy can´t even act……..
@shocker,thank you my dear
@Opanin, Anytime love
@Opanin, Anytime love
nigga get ur gay lukn ass out of here!!! kidnap u for what?? LIAR!!!
@zion, you are all foolish and stupid people,,what makes you think the guy will just wake up and cook all this stories of what didn’t happen,Thanks to God for saving him from those kidnappers……..zion all ur families are gay,even ur mum is a trans,confirm this from ur dad
@GREG,r u his man or something?? damn!! u have no taste.hahahaha
@GREG,kipnapped by soldiers and he escaped.dun make me laf. this guy couldn’t have been able to escape if he was even kidnapped by 6year olds how much more soldiers.this is a publicity stunt and some of us are not moved at all by it.more popular and affluent nigerian celebrities(both sexes) have been in and out of GH so many tyms, even dey weren’t abducted how much more this guy. i beg make i think.
excuse u….it’s probably a Nigerian behind the whole thing!!!!
this is bullshit! no such thing happend, it’s just one of there stories pls give us a break mtchewwwww enkuasiasem ne nsen fuoo aaa kua mtchewwwwwww.
Just a story concocted to get him some attention. How come he never reported and no one heard of this? He should mention the producer’ & director’s names as well as the town where the hotel is located so his story can be verified..
Kidnap in Ghana? That guy is a joke!!!
@Akosua, probably just a concocted story as most of the numerous concocted stories posted here about nigeria aswell.Yes kidnap since you didn’t hear him well, is ghana a holy land.What about most of the stories posted here about nigeria are the verified.
@flint,
That is not for me to judge because i don’t know Nigeria but i know Ghana well enough to know that this would not happen. if you have issues with stories posted here about nigeria, no one stops you from commenting on them. If he’s using this to boost his non existent profile, he shouldn’t bother, any discerning person knows this is a cock & bull story.
@Akosua,thank you, and he talks of outskirts of accra. my God. does he know outskirts?
see how all of u are in denial, how do u think a full grown man like kalu will just cook up smething as com.plicated and sensitive as this, well had this stuff happened to van and co in nigeria all of u will believe it 150%, oops it turns out ghana isn’t as holy as u guys make it to be.Ha ha ha keep dreaming guys !!!HOSPITABLE INDEED!!!
@flint, that,s true flint if van or majid were in the same position i dont think they will need verification from anyone.and kalu is a young intellect and amazing actor he does,nt need this to gain any public attetion he is a household name in nigeria movies and a gradaute so pls stop with this stupid idea of publicity.i also remember when they reported someone tried to kill majid in nigeria you guys did not ask for verification then so why now.double standards i say.
@angel, exactly my dear, u couldn’t have said it any better, even a 7yrs old could see that majid story as being fabricated, but hey the ghanaians jumped to a feast of words with it without bordering for verification.
flint i believe the kidnapping thing started in nigeria, not too long ago we heard two of ur most popular actors kidnapped. never have we heard an actor in ghana kidnapped, so we will be quit to disbelieve dis and call is a buff..he shud pls name d site, hotel and so forth. plus soldiers to kidnap him, for what reason. is he armed or a threat to our society. if he said, his hotel bills wer not paid and as such he was disgracefully evicted from the place, we will maybe agree but kidnapped?..is he kidding me? we have bad ppl in gha but dey are 70% nigerians..yes i said n dey cont. to torment us with brutalities, tarnishing our image. i am ashamed of him for his ungratefulness. after offering him dat role he had d gut to spit out lies. Or nigerians are trying to pay bak for majid claiming he was threatened in nigeria? is he dat naive or desperate to accept a role without reading d fine print. im sure he heard about this 1000 dollar fine, did i hear he paid 300dolar, i beg get the change for me, liar lyk him, dis new about d fine is all over, how come he didnt hear of it. can he xplain why somebody will want to kidnap him. i need to investigate dis. was it for his role, his cuteness(if he is, as i cant c it) or his nationality…pls we dont want tonic blood in our country. ur story is so made up. we need to just let dis nigerians to say wer dey r or else d next thing we will hear is, ghanaians r trying to assasinate dier pregnant upon a friendly invitation to gh. or more betta worse, dey might even bomb our country, ensu omu ye, dey can do it, aftall dey’ve tried it america, how much more a small country(as dey always remind us of) lyk ghana. mtchewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!
due to so much anger, i made a lot of typo errors, dis nigerians can even get on ur nerves till u forget how to spell ur own name…kwasiaAsem akwakwa…d word pregnant is supposed to be president, nd take d better out and leave d worse cause das wo dey r…d rest of dem figure it for urselve cause i’m too mad to even correct dem….no more nigerian films for me again..dat is it
@flint,n the answer to ur question is…HIS GAY LOOKING ASS WANTS ATTENTION….u digg??
@zion, funny u should bring up this attention thing when it is guys that are the ones seeking for attention with every possible negative comments and articles about nollywood popping up every now and then just to seek attention for ur dear gholywood, !!!WHAT A JOKE!!!
@flint, i forgot to add that kalu is already an established actor and doesn’t need such publicity stunt to get attention.
@flint,seriously,is he FUCKING u too??
@flint, I totally understand ur point but at least is not worse than ur country thou..how many times have u heard kidnap cases in ghana compare to dat of 9ja? there are bad ppl in ghana too and im not gonna dispute this fact but is worse in 9ja, nd it has nothing to do wit population..and no one is indenial at least i’m not..I guess every story posted on GC abt 9ja’s are believer to us and every story posted about us are also believer to 9ja..I for one don’t think ghanaians are innocent in everythg but I know regardless its one of the safest place to be at in Africa..for that matter many ppl abroad, african americans etc will like to stay in ghana than in 9ja..ghana has become the 2nd home to most african americans and many africans in the diaspora..rita marley 2nd home is ghana(she lives in ghana now), ive come across a lot of AA who consider ghana as a 2nd home base on wuteva reasons..had a professor who visits ghana every year but married to a benin guy…we are not on any country’s criminals or terrorist list…my whole point is that we have bad ppl in ghana but there are more good ppl too…and considering how peaceful ghana is now I believe our population will double soon since most 9ja’s, many Africans and others are trooping to ghana now like God is abt to visit ghana..I will like to doubt but i wouldn’t be surprise if those armed robbers are 9jas..#just saying
@nanayaa, my dear i read ur comment and no matter what i still see some traces of denial,all what u have said is from u and ur country men perspective, for example a zambian can tell u they have met AA and other people from other parts of the world who live or would want to live in zambia, so what u just said doesn’t hold enough ground becuase there are a lot of foreigners ghana inclusive living or want to live in nigeria aswell, i have met people who commend nigerian and say to me they would love to come to nigeria or want to live in nigeria,it happens to everyone and it is called patriotism, i was reading an article on a ugandan website about foreigners visiting there for tourism and u know what the ugandan journalist ended the artilce with, he ended it by saying they are happy be welcoming the tourists in Gods own country uganda, now u see that is called patriotism which is exactly what u are doing, now on the terrorist issue nigeria has been taken off the terror list because it was evident nigeria isn’t a terrorist country, it just an act of one disturbed individual, the same can be said of the ghanaian terrorist kwaku manfo asiedu, and if u should know ur preisent mills govt. was at one time placed on a terrorist list.Funny a thing when good thing happen to ghana u guys are quick to take credit for it but when bad things happen to ghana u look to blame it on the nigerians, one thing u guys seem to forget is that nigerians are everywhere, in uganda,kenya,tanzania,gambia,america,europe,asia etc so u guys should stop making it look like is just ghana, i hear u guys, ghana is a peaceful place indeed.
@flint, lol oga facts are facts it has nothing to do with patriotism….I’m saying all that I’ve said not because I’m ghanaian but is abt wut i’ve heard from non-ghanaians…everybody in this earth will testify to fact that ghana is one of the peaceful nations in Africa therefore ppl like to visit…obama came to ghana becuz of wut he saw not cuz of wut ghanaians told him….what’s the point if we boast and say we’re peaceful and shower all holy priases on ourselves wen others think different..I understand that AA’s can choose to live anywhere they prefer in Africa but for some reasons they identify more with ghana than any other african country..do ur research, that is a fact…And I am not saying this because I’m ghanaian, im saying this from experience and what i’ve heard from others..I’m not ashamed to admit we have bad ppl in ghana too..I will defend wen necessary and agree wen necessary….I didn’t even know ghanaians and nigerians hate each other THAT much until i came across nigerfilms.com, omg i was shocked…and the ghanaians got angry and also started dissing 9ja on GC..all that animosity started on ur site then transfered here and is not gonna stop anytime soon but i hope it reduce thou…feel free to reply back, i will read but i won’t reply anymore cuz its unnecessary and a waste of time…I’ve wasted much time already on the other threads wit u, nd not gonna continue..I just wanna have fun and kick it wit GC…there’s more to GC than ghana and 9ja beef..but thx for ur mature arguments thou.
@nanayaa, ok maybe the patriotism word might be too glarring, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it is from u and ur country men perspective,trust me i have met a lot of poeple who want to come to nigeria or live in nigeria, and u know whats interesting, most of them got to know about nigeria through nollywood(which is why i will forever remain greatful to the pioneers of nollywood for establishing it), most of them are suprised that there are buildings in nigeria(and africa in general), and u know what all of them have in common, there curiosity to come to nigeria to see for themselves,nollywood has done what no other sector or industry in nigeria(and to some extent africa) has been able to do by selling our culture to the world and correcting the white mans depiction of the continent, just as u have met AA people who want to live in ghana, so have i met AA people who want to live in nigeria aswell, go do ur research and get facts right also.My dear i don’t duell in taking delight that a president visied my country, however other past american presidents have visited nigeria of which i am not crazy about,obama came to ghana based on the democracy there, no much more reason other than that, yes i admit nigerian leader are corupt, but hey even america was corupt before it became what it is today,even today they are corupt but the do it systematically hidding under the law, but u know what,when it is time to do business, guess where he will go?i know u probably know the answer.About the site thing, u got it all wrong, let me elaborate things here for u, i know for sure those nigerian sites were established before the ghanaian ones,and u know what, i was one of the first peole that started patronizing those sites and not for once did i come across any bad mouthing against ghana, not until 2006 with the release of the ghanaian movies beyonce and co,then these new ghanaian websites started posting controversial articles about nollywood and nigeria in general which made the nigerian sites retaliate back, i know this because for example nigerian sites like nigeriafilms have been established for quite a while, and before the release of beyonce and co the site didn’t seem to mention much about ghana, if u doubt me go to nigeriafilms.com and try looking its past article before 2006 then u will know what i am talking about.
see the nonsense talk from nigerians on this board
called naijarules, belittling ghana. Its this type of arrogant talk from nigerians that will make the fail. We ghanaians are humble people. http://www.naijarules.com/vb/ghanaian-movie-stars-filmmaking-news/37817-ghana-slams-1-000-fee-nigerian-actors.html
@Maame, stop making yourselves seem innocent, isn’t it the samething u guys do here and in other ghanaian websites.
@Maame, compare the response there and the response to that same article here on GC which is more harsh.
Does sumbody believe this man,
I don’t believe him at all GHANA PAA never will such tin happen here
@Nao, so how come u believe most of those fabricated stories about nollywood.
How? I dont believe this one bit, unless his own people roaming in Ghana tried to kidnap him.
@miss dior,im feeling u girlfriend hahahaha u can say dat again
im thinking wat did they “KIDNAPP” him for Ransom?oh niger u can do better
comparing GHANA and NIGERIA ,ghana is more comfortable to live than nigeria ,a real nigerian friend said this
now people are going to say, it’s a lie.. when a nigerian director called some girl a devil. No one said it was a lie or it was meant to ruin nigeria reputation, u guys took it to the hardcore and wouldn’t let it go… now u guys r making all sort of excuses for yourself…….wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@fuck u!!!!,well FUCK U TOO!!!
u r an asshole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
u r an assholeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
get a murder fucking life…. dickhead..
you are an asshole!! get a murder fucking life…..
“There were many; armed robbery in my hotel, non payment of hotel bills, my abduction from my hotel in the middle of the night by soldiers among others.”
What a funny world. This sounds like the 6 O’clock news to me. The Ghanaian soldiers are rated highly by the UN, they will never stoop so low to arresting a single individual for $300. Our soldiers do not even arrest people in this country. It is the police who do that. You’ve lost my respect, Kalu.
lack of knowledge my ppl perish , na sooo the country called nigeria will perish!!! flint and co , u cld fuck rite off!!
your life will perish..ignorant foool….
@sugar, you, ur mother and father , ur entire generation will perish, wicked ppl
@goodies, your family to come and go..will perish first before nigeria…
you papa, your mama. your sister,your brother. infact your generation to come and go….. fooll..ghana will perish wayyy before nigeria… u guys r already there..fooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
@goodies, u and ur fellows can also go fuck yourselves.
This guy is not even that popular for Ghanaians to waste their time on and call kidnapping! What will we benefit if we were to kidnap him? How much is he even worth in the movie industry? If he didn’t enjoyhis visit in Ghana then say that instead of chatting sh*t about my home country.
THIS IS FOOLISHNESS IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE!
@Yvette, well said!
Before coming to conclusions and attacking people, have you taken the time to actually read the blog post on the actor’s page?
Did you read about his other visit to Ghana and how much he likes Ghana and their people?
Don’t you think the articles that have circulated around the internet on this issue are just a ploy from the media to fuel this stupid Nollywood vs. Ghollywood war?
I’m sick of stupid journalists not knowing how to do their damn job – Investigate and give the masses unbiased stories.
I’m also sick of stupid people jumping to conclusions without reading the whole story. I swear, dumb people need to stop breeding.
@flint, nigerians r known 4 kidnapping, killing,duping, etc, i guess u know the rest. it is not surprising to hear that a nigerian has done sth unpardonable n u know it, we r jux overwhelmed by this fabricated story. Our soldiers r really respected by the UN n they wouldn’t belittle themselves by indulging in this time-wasting act.Kalu’s story jux doesn’t make sense he shd bring another n flint jux admit it that u guys r known 4 ruthlessness.
i have enjoyed reading thank for sharing your story Greeting.
PLEASE ALL HEARTS COME DOWN. OH AINT YOU TIRED OF TODAY NIGERIA AND GHANA AND FAIR LADIES AND BLACK LADIES.LET ME TELL YOU , FOR ALL YOU KNOW THERE ‘MIGHT’ BE’ A ‘TREUTH IN WHAT HE IS SAYING. I KNOW MY COUNTRY GHANA IS A VERY WELCOMING PLACE BUT MIND YOU NOT EVERYBODY IS KIND.JUST LIKE IN NIGERIA NOT EVERYBODY THERE IS A 419. I LOVE KULU AND I DONT THINK HE WOULD COME HERE AND SAY ALL THIS IF THERE IS NO little TRUTH IN WHAT HE IS SAYING. THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A GHANAIAN DOESNT MEAN WHEN A NIGERIAN MAN TELLS YOU A PAINFULL/BITTER STORY ABOUT GHANA YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE IT.
TO KALU I JUST HOPE THIS STORY IS TRUE BECAUSE I DO NOT THINK YOU WILL WRITE THIS IF THERE IS NO SINGLE TRUETH IN THIS.YOU CLEARLY KNEW WHAT THIS STORY WILL BRING.
That is quite a story. What makes him so sure it was an attempted kidnapping?
i just think dat..he wants poeple to know him better..by making up dis shitty story abt being kidnaped in ghana..he is just a wonna be..get a life mannnnn
I THOUGHT HE WILL SAY SOME GAY SUITORS ARE ASKING HIS HAND IN MARRIAGE,THAT I WOULD HAVE BELIEVED .
hi!This was a really excellent blog!
I come from milan, I was luck to search your theme in baidu
Also I learn much in your topic really thanks very much i will come later
I read this chicken shit on Nigeria films dot com long ago. I gave them what belongs to them- Insult in heaps!!!!!!!!!!
@Gabby Nash, CONGRATULATIONS FOR THINKING THAT INSULT BELONGS TO THE NIGERIANS BRO! BUT DO REALLY THINK THEY CARE?
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!