Few days ago on a video which went viral, Ada Ameh, the popular Nigeria actress on the series of The Johnson as Emu cried out on Instagram noting she has been sued by a Movie Producer for not showing up for a shoot she have been paid for. 

According to her, she was having some mental challenges which she did not communicate to the Producer.

The Edo state Movie Producer, Osagbovo Eriamiantoe, a man known for his humility and gentleness has taken to his social media handle to explain what actually happened between him and the actress.

“I have been inundated in the last 24 hours by calls and messages from  different quarters following an Instagram video by the respected Veteran actor, Ada Ameh who claimed that she had been sued by a film production company whose contract she breached. As in my usual character, I would not have seen a reason to write this if not for a call I received from one Mr George this morning who introduced himself as Ada Ameh's boyfriend. The call was laden with insults and many subtle threats which was his way of responding to a 14 day Notice of Demand from our Lawyer after Adah Ameh refused to show up for the shoot of our film, FAtBULOUS, which she had been fully paid for. 

We contracted Ada Ameh on the 10th of May 2022 to participate in our film shoot as a cast, which was to take place later that month in Benin City. She signed our contract form and was fully paid for the job. Her hotel suite was booked, her flight tickets were also paid for and sent to her. She was to arrive Benin on the  morning of Friday, May 27th 2022,  with the first flight. I was shocked when our logistics officer told me at about 8am that day  that when he went to pick her from the airport,  he called her and she told him that she was not on the flight . It was unsettling as we had already scheduled some of her scenes for that day including a wedding scene where she was to play a major role.  Later that day, she requested that another flight be booked for her. We agreed . We were more than shocked however when about an hour after she received the ticket of the  2nd flight which was for 3:15pm, she called that she was no longer coming for the shoot. No reason was given for her refusal to come.

In the confusion, we had to strike our set for the day and rescheduled all  the shoots. That singular action from her dealt a serious blow on our shoot. This included the wedding venue which had been decorated, the about 200 extras, Aso ebi girls and some of the major casts who had limited time to spend . 

With the support of understanding and supportive cast and crew we resumed shoot the next day including the tedious task of looking for an appropriate replacement for her. 

As a peace loving man, I instructed that nobody should raise the issue on social media as many aggrieved persons had wanted to.  We wrote her through our Lawyer on the 2nd of June, demanding for a letter of apology  and that she should pay for the tangible expenses we had incurred because of her, including the artiste fee we had paid her, within 14 days on the expiration of which we will have no other option but to take appropriate legal action against her. 

We were however shocked when we saw her video on Instagram yesterday, 15th June 2022, where she refused to reveal the details of the said breached contract.

As struggling,  young unknown filmmakers, many of us are not new to being bullied. But to be bullied and blackmailed at the same time is both unfair and destructive to the industry that we toil day and night to build. 

This response has become important because so much money and efforts by hardworking cast and crew members have gone into this film project that she has decided to negatively affect by her actions.”