Nollywood Actress Sent To Prison For Robbery Recounts Ordeal

Nollywood actress, Yetunde Akilapa was arrested sometime in February allegedly being in possession of 100 master key, which she was accused of stealing.

She was detained at Alade Police station in Somolu but was later released after she was discharged and acquitted by the court.

In a recent interview, Yetude who is in the Odunfa Caucus of the Yoruba film industry reveals what really happened.

See excerpts from the interview:

There is a rumour that you were set up by your friends, how true is this?

Yes, it’s true. Some of my friends set me up.

Why did they do that to you?

Let me narrate everything to you from the beginning. I am into business, I sell weave-ons. I learnt hairdressing before joining acting, it was just that I had no time for the business because of my acting career. I used to have a salon at Bariga area of Lagos State, but I left the place for a friend, Titi, who is a cousin to my boyfriend, Wale. The only thing I didn’t give her was the weave-ons in the shop. I told her to sell them, and that she should give the money to my younger sister, who lives near the shop. However, she refused to deliver the money she made from the sales to my sister. I later went there to pick up all my things in the shop and requested for my money. To my surprise, she claimed that there was no money with her because a lot of people owed her.  An argument ensued between her and my sister, which resulted into a fight during which she stabbed my sister. I reported the matter to the police, who arrested and detained her. Her cousin, who was my boyfriend, and others were against me over the action and pleaded with me to withdraw the case from the police, which I later did.

So, how did the set up happen?

There was a woman I met at Next Salon at Akoka, Lagos, who liked what I sell. I told her I could do home delivery. We exchanged numbers and she gave me her address. She stays at Fola Agoro, which is near my place at Bariga all in Lagos. One day, I decided to visit her at home. On getting to the place she gave as her residence, the place was quiet as I didn’t see anyone outside. I knocked on the door and someone came out to attend to me. But when I asked to see the woman, who told me she is called Mama Ayo, the lady that attended to me claimed there was nobody like that in the place. The woman thereafter called other tenants and accused me of being an informant because she said they had robbed the house in December 2012, and this incident happened in March. They ransacked me and found a bunch of keys on me, which has about 15-20 keys. They claimed they were master keys I used for robbery.

They later took me to the police station and I was detained. My boyfriend and his cousin later got to know about my ordeal They later testified at the police station that I was an actress and a bail was to be arranged for me to get out of the station but it didn't end there. The police later came to tell me that my house would be searched in the afternoon. The police that searched my house reported back to the DPO and presented the receipts to him.

At the DPO’s office, a guy interrogated me and introduced himself as a PM. I thought he was a Production Manager, but unknown to me, he was a journalist from PM News. It was later I got to know about this. He was the one that reported in the media that I was sent to Kirikiri Prison for robbery. After leaving the DPO’s office, I was told that I would be charged to court. Three days after, I was charged to court.

But how did you come about the 100 bunch of keys?

This was the handiwork of the journalist that broke the story. Let me tell you something, Titi dated the DPO because of my matter. I later got to know the whole truth of the matter later. I would have rot in jail but God helped me out. She was jealous of how I get money to do some things.

Do you still relate with Titi?

Never, such a person should not be mingled with at all because she is a dangerous element.

Nigeriafilms