Ladipo Kidnappers: ‘‘Henry Odenigbo is not my friend’’ -Yul Edochie

Like the Actor Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Yul Edochie has distanced himself and clarified his relationship with filmmaker Henry Odenigbo.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Lagos police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin said the kidnappers were killed in a gun duel in Ladipo Mushin after receiving intelligence about their plot to abduct wealthy individuals in the state.

Mr Hundeyin, however, didn’t disclose the identities of the slain kidnappers.

A few days after the news went viral, a filmmaker and actor, Stanley Nwoko, aka Stanley Ontop, posted photos of a movie producer and CEO of Ason-Rich Movie Production, Henry Odenigbo, whom he alleged was the ‘‘ringleader’’ of the kidnap gang, killed in the shootout.

Odenigbo produced over ten movies in 2024 and worked with famous names, including Edochie, Kelvin Ikeduba, and Eve Esin. On Wednesday, Edochie confirmed he starred in Sharon’s Fate, one of Odenigbo’s movies.

Checks on Odenigbo’s YouTube page show that the movie (Sharon’s Fate) has yet to be released, but on 11 June, the deceased shared pictures on his Instagram page of himself, Edochie and other actors on a movie set.

Just a photo, we are not friends

It’s standard on movie sets for actors, crew, and cast to take pictures with each other and with fans. This was the case with Edochie, who explained that the photo of himself and the deceased, now being circulated, was taken in June on a movie set and nothing more.

Edochie, who made his acting debut in 2005 ‘The Exquires’, explained that the viral photo of them was taken on a movie set at the request of the late filmmaker.

The 42-year-old actor, in an Instagram video, addressed rumours that he was a friend of the deceased.

“According to the police, the guy is a kidnapper. I’ve heard stories and noticed that some blogs posted my picture with him, implying he’s my friend. So, I want to state that the guy wasn’t my friend. I’ve been in Nollywood for 19 years, going on 20 years. I only saw this guy once when I shot a movie for him a few weeks ago. A director contracted me for a movie and paid me for a job. I even thought it was the director’s movie until I came to the set and met this guy. I think he called himself Ason-Rich Henry. He came to me, introduced himself as Ason-Rich Productions, and said his name was Henry.

‘‘We greeted them, I shot the movie, and on the last day of shooting, he came to me and said he was so excited that he finally got to work with me. I think he also played a role in the movie. He asked if he could take a picture with me, and I said okay. We took pictures, and I left for the next set. That was the first time I saw him, and I never saw him again. That’s the picture a lot of people are circulating. I understand people are circulating the picture and saying he’s my friend. He is not my friend. I got to know him as a producer, and I don’t know why people are circulating my picture,’’ Edochie said.

Legal action

The University of Port Harcourt alumnus threatened to sue bloggers or persons who linked him to the late Ason-Rich head honcho.

“To those spreading this information, I hope you can defend it in court or at the police station because it’s coming. If you want to write a story about a producer who was shot and labelled a kidnapper, use his picture, not mine.

If you must use pictures of actors to claim that this guy was a producer, you should know how to tell your story well. Say he was a producer; then you can use pictures. Go to his Instagram page to see all the actors he worked with, so you don’t have to use my picture.”

The actor, the Democratic People’s Congress party candidate for Anambra State governor in 2017, further clarified that he met Odenigbo on a movie set in June and that their paths never crossed again. The controversial actor also lamented the negative reports trailing him in recent times.

“Any story that has to do with me, they’ll blow it out of proportion because anything with my name on it sells, but this is wrong. I only met him when I shot a film for him titled Sharon’s Fate, and by the time we were done, we greeted he took a picture with me and said he’s a big fan of mine and then left. So why will bloggers use my picture? You want to generate traffic on your page and say this guy is my friend.” Edochie said.

He added that the bloggers aimed to destroy his reputation, but it cannot be tarnished because God established it.

Henry Odenigbo

In 2024 alone, Odenigbo’s company, Ason-Rich Movie Production, produced over ten films, including ‘Born in the Ghetto’, ‘Love At The Pool’, ‘My Half’, ‘Little Top Up’, ‘Regards for Love’, ‘Clue Girl’, ‘Blind Blood’, ‘To Forgive’, and ‘Bethlehem’.

As an actor, Odenigbo often played bad-boy roles and wielded guns in movies, including one of his most recent roles in ‘Blind Blood’, which was posted on 26 April.

READ ALSO: Ladipo Kidnappers: AGN, Kanayo dissociate selves from slain filmmaker, actors

On 16 March, the Nollywood Indigenous Filmmakers of Nigeria (NIFMON) awarded him the ‘Best Filmmaker in Port Harcourt,’ and weeks later, on 31 March, E-flex named him Nolly TV’s Best Grassroots Filmmaker for 2024/2025.

On 3 February, he held an audition for Ason-Rich Movie Production in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.