How Lagos hotel robbery incident triggered our exit from ANTP — Kunle Afod

Popular Nollywood actor, Kunle Afod, has revealed how a deadly robbery incident at a Lagos hotel exposed tensions over actors’ welfare and eventually triggered his exit, alongside other practitioners, from the Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners (ANTP).

Afod said the incident occurred at Moslado Hotel in Isolo, Lagos State, where he and other members of a film crew were staying while shooting a movie.

According to the actor, the crew returned to the hotel around midnight after filming, only to wake up the following morning to find the premises surrounded by police officers.

The police took the hotel occupants to the station after the hotel receptionist was found to have been macheted to death during an overnight robbery.

Afod said other hotel workers had been locked inside a kitchen with transparent glass windows during the attack and were able to see the people responsible for the killing. He said the suspects were people who had stayed at the hotel for about a week, while he and his colleagues had also been lodging there for a similar period.

The similarity in their length of stay led to the film crew being taken to the police station, where they were questioned over the incident.

Afod said the police eventually asked them to contact their industry bosses, who could confirm their identities and establish that they were not involved in the robbery.

The crew contacted their bosses and, according to Afod, were instructed to contribute money for the police. They also made another contribution for fuel after leaving the station.

The experience subsequently made Afod and other actors question the purpose of the financial contributions they were making to ANTP and whether the association could provide assistance to members when they faced difficult situations.

At the time, Afod said actors paid levies on productions in addition to making monthly contributions to the association. He estimated that about 40 films were being released every two weeks, with each production paying ₦10,000 to the association.

He calculated that the payments amounted to about ₦400,000 every two weeks, ₦800,000 monthly and approximately ₦8 million within 10 months.

The actors therefore sought to know whether money contributed by members could be used to support practitioners who encountered emergencies or other difficulties.

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Afod said the association’s leadership explained that the funds were being used to maintain its office, but the explanation did not resolve the actors’ concerns over accountability.

The disagreement eventually resulted in the actors walking away from ANTP after the leadership told members who were dissatisfied with its decision that they were free to leave.

Afod, however, clarified that he was not the person who led the group out of the association.

He identified fellow actor Ibrahim Chatta as the person who led the actors out of ANTP.

He said, “We were shooting in a hotel called Moslado in Isolo, Lagos State. We went to shoot, so we got back to our hotel rooms late, around 12 a.m. By daybreak, they banged on everyone’s doors. By the time we got downstairs, the police had surrounded everywhere, and they packed all of us and put us behind the counter.

“What happened was that the receptionist at the hotel was macheted to death overnight. So, the robbers locked the rest of the hotel staff in a kitchen that had transparent glass while they were butchering the receptionist. Those who were locked in the kitchen could see that those macheting the receptionist were people who had lodged in the hotel for about a week. Unfortunately, we had also lodged in the hotel for about a week. So, when they called the police, they packed all of us to the station.

“So, we were at the station explaining what happened. The police then asked us to call our bosses in the industry, saying that they knew we couldn’t be the armed robbers. We called them, and they told us to contribute money behind the counter and give it to the police. We did that. When we left the police station, our bosses still insisted that we had to give them money for fuel. We still contributed.

“This now boils down to the fact that we had levies we paid on production, and we had monthly contributions that we made. At the time, my calculation was that we released an average of 40 films every two weeks. For every production, you had to pay ₦10,000 at the time to the association. If 40 films were released in two weeks, that was ₦400,000; in a month, it was ₦800,000; in 10 months, it was ₦8 million. And that’s not even up to a year.

“Now, if a member of the association is having an issue, are they not supposed to take money from it to assist members of the association? That warranted questions.

“The association was ANTP. But our leaders raised eyebrows, saying that it was money they were using to maintain the office. They were right, but we needed an explanation and accountability. So, that was what happened.

“And they told us that whoever was not pleased with their judgment was free to walk out of the association, and we walked away. I was not the one who even led us out of ANTP; it was Ibrahim Chatta. I’m saying this for the first time.”