Speaking on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria, veteran actor, Jide Kosoko, recently said, “The attention of the Board of Trustees of TAMPPAN and Elders of the Motion Picture Industry has been drawn to the malicious damages being done to our sector by some unruly individuals that lack any iota of discipline and who feel they are above the law.

“We particularly observe the continuous derogatory statements made by Iyabo Ojo against the association and the industry as a whole. As pioneers of this noble industry, if we fold our arms and allow the continuous blackmail that send negative signals across the world to go unchecked, the current situation that has impugned on our integrity will continue to grow to the detriment of humble practitioners, whose only source of livelihood is the practice of indigenous language movies. Unfortunately, Nkechi Blessing has also joined in the ignoble tirades against the association and by extension, the industry, and we say enough is enough.

“As TAMPPAN BOT members and elders of the industry in the Yoruba genre, we dare say to Ojo, Blessing and others like them, that if they think whatever visibility they have achieved today is not through the Yoruba sector of the Nigerian motion picture industry, they should, at least, realise that the industry gave them the enabling environment for whatever they may have become today. An offence against one is an offence against others, and we will get other associations involved in tackling any further infringement on our rules and shared values. None of these infringements will henceforth go without repercussions”.

The TAMPPAN BOT’s stern warning came on the heels of Iyabo Ojo and Nkechi Blessing’s reckless accusations, abuses and embarrassment against the association and the movie industry as a whole of which the association, during a press briefing in Lagos recently said it would no longer tolerate derogatory statements from the duo.

It should be recalled that the association has already suspended Blessing and another actor, Kehinde Adams, aka Lege, for fighting dirty on social media over the  arrest of one of their colleagues, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, who was accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Unfortunately, Ojo, in her bid to fight for justice in favour of the molested minor and against the accused Babe Ijesha, had insulted some actors for keeping mute about the case.

TAMPPAN also stressed that the views expressed by another actor, Adedeji Aderemi, aka Olofa Ina, over Baba Ijesha’s sexual assault case was not the position of the association.

Olofa Ina had, while speaking at Baba Ijesha’s court appearance some days ago, said, “I am in court because they said somebody slept with someone. This is a normal thing in our industry. If this person has done something wrong, they should reprimand him rather than (lay) false accusations”.