Jonathan Nwokpor
Claims that accused kidnapper Henry Odenigbo, who was shot dead by police in Lagos on July 4, was a registered member of the Association of Movie Practitioners, or AMPRAC, were refuted by the organisation on Saturday.
The disclaimer was made by Ifeanyi Azodo, President of AMPRAC, in a speech to reporters in Enugu.
He stated there was no connection of any kind between the suspect and the association.
Remember that six other people, including the late Henry Odenigbo, an actor and producer in Nigerian cinema, perished in the attempt to abduct a businessman in Lagos?
It was discovered that two syndicate members managed to flee when police agents, acting on intelligence, ambushed the kidnappers and killed seven of them, including Onuigbo.
In response to the incident, Azodo stated that investigations into AMPRAC’s database revealed the alleged kidnapper was never a member of the organisation, and he further stated that individuals with dubious backgrounds were never accepted into the association.
He said: “Attention of all executives, members and fans of our noble and very reputable Nollywood guild, the Association of Movie Practitioners (AMPRAC) was drawn to the rude shock of a very false claim being laid on AMPRAC. One slain suspected kidnapper/armed robber, Prince Henry Odenigbo was said to be a member of AMPRAC. This is very untrue.
“When the news came up, I consulted the AMPRAC chairman of Rivers State. He went through his records and the guys name was not there. I also went through the records that we normally send to the census board, that is our data base and checked and his name was not there.
“So I don’t know why somebody will be saying that. It is untrue, it is unfounded. He was never a member of AMPRAC.
“Also before one becomes a member, we must have to screen the person to make sure that such a person has that reputation to be a member or to carry our ID card. Prince Henry Odenigbo is not known to our association.
“We have the evidence and will willingly furnish you with the data base of AMPRAC Rivers State, where he was said to have been registered. We don’t have such a name and will never have.
“It is our priority to investigate characters that come for registration auditions. We do this as basic steps to ensure that we don’t select criminals.
“We do this before any registration exercise so as to avoid dents on our image.
“This is because we realize our position as role models in the society. We never had such a fellow in our midst and we don’t have such a name in our records,” he said.
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