Nollywood actor Yul Edochie has clarified his relationship with filmmaker Henry Odenigbo, stating they are not friends.

Lagos police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin has reported that some kidnappers were killed in a gun duel in Ladipo Mushin following a plot to kidnap wealthy individuals in the state.

Hundeyin, however, did not reveal the identities of the kidnappers who were killed.

A few days after the news went viral, a filmmaker and actor, Stanley Nwoko, popularly known as Stanley Ontop, posted pictures 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 with police.

On Wednesday, Edochie confirmed he starred in Sharon’s Fate, one of Odenigbo’s movies, and 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.

In his reaction, Edochie, in an Instagram video, explained that the viral photo of them was taken on a movie set at the request of the deceased filmmaker.

“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,” Edochie said.

“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, 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.

Edochie threatened to sue bloggers who linked him to the late filmmaker. “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 Guardian: Text, Excluding Headline)

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