Entertainment

REVEALED: How Bobrisky Spent Less Than A Month In Prison

Published

2 months ago

September 27, 2024

By Mario Deepromoter

Nigerian transgender, Okuneye Olanrewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, reportedly spent less than a month in prison following a six-month sentence for naira abuse in April, according to a report by FIJ.

On Tuesday, social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, known online as VeryDarkMan, shared a recorded phone conversation in which Bobrisky allegedly admitted to serving the majority of her sentence outside of prison.

She also claimed to have paid N15 million to have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) drop charges of ‘money laundering’ against her.

These revelations have reignited discussions about corruption within Nigerian prisons. In response, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has ordered “a thorough and unconditional investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption within the Nigerian Correctional Service.”

Sources close to the situation informed FIJ on Thursday that while Bobrisky was initially taken to Kirikiri prison after her sentencing in April, she left after only three weeks and was officially released in August.

‘Guarded Like a President’

An official from Kirikiri prison shared with FIJ, “Bob spent only three weeks here with us in Kirikiri before she was taken out to another place we don’t know. That was where she spent her time; it was an ‘arrangee thing’. And money was involved.”

The source added that Bobrisky was “guarded like a president” until she was quietly removed from the prison.

“She received VIP treatment all through,” the source continued. “She lived in a special cell. The money she said she paid is actually true; no lies. Yes, she paid the money.”

These claims align with a 2019 undercover investigation by FIJ founder ‘Fisayo Soyombo, where he intentionally got himself arrested and imprisoned, exposing the fact that it was possible to bribe prison officials for privileges such as living in furnished cells, bringing in contraband items, and even avoiding the prison sentence entirely.

Video Call Incident with Bobrisky

The source also recounted a notable incident during Bobrisky’s time at Kirikiri. While prison authorities kept her isolated from other inmates, one event stood out.

“There was this day one guy was on a video call with his girlfriend, and he suddenly turned the camera on Bobrisky,” the official shared. “It was deemed an invasion of Bobrisky’s privacy, so, as punishment, he was locked up in his cell for nearly two months.”

The source added, “As I said, she was heavily guarded, so there weren’t many of such incidents to point at. And she was quietly taken away after three weeks.”

James Brown’s Visit to Bobrisky?

After Otse released the audio recording, social media users began questioning whom James Brown, another well-known crossdresser, visited in Kirikiri prison when she claimed to have visited Bobrisky on June 8.

“By the time James visited,” Bobrisky was no longer in prison, a source from James’ camp revealed to FIJ on Thursday.

“James went there to see one guy called Vindicate who had invited her to collaborate on recording a song from prison. The prison authorities liked the idea of a song recorded from prison, so they let her come.”

No Denial from the Prison Service

As of now, the Nigerian Correctional Service has not publicly denied or confirmed the claims that Bobrisky did not fully serve her jail term at Kirikiri.

However, on Thursday night, the Interior Ministry announced that two deputy controllers of corrections (DCCs) in charge of the medium-security custodial center at Kirikiri, Michael Anugwa and Sikiru Adekunle, had been suspended “over their unprofessional conduct in handling the case of Nigerian crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky.”

Ja’afaru Ahmed, the secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, announced that the suspension was necessary to allow for further investigation.

Entertainment

MultiChoice Nigeria Loses 243,000 DStv, Gotv, Subscribers In Six Months Over Increase In Price

Published

4 days ago

November 13, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The South African pay-TV operator MultiChoice Group disclosed that its Nigerian unit, MultiChoice Nigeria, lost 243,000 subscribers on its Digital Satellite Television (DStv) and General Entertainment on Television (GOtv) services from April to September this year.

The company revealed these figures in its Interim Financial Results for the period ending 30 September 2024, which were released on Tuesday.

MultiChoice attributed this decline to Nigeria’s high inflation rate, which exceeds 30%, driven by the rising costs of food, electricity, and fuel, causing many customers to disconnect.

In its financial report for March 2024, MultiChoice had earlier reported an 18% subscriber loss in Nigeria.

The company further reported a 566,000-subscriber loss in the Rest of Africa operations over the past six months, with Zambia and Nigeria contributing the largest shares to this decline.

“With the Rest of Africa business having seen a decline of 803k subscribers in 2H FY24, this rate of decline slowed to 566k in 1H FY25,” stated MultiChoice.

The loss included 298,000 in Zambia and 243,000 in Nigeria, while other markets experienced a minor decline.

Extreme inflation and currency instability have negatively impacted the group’s profits, with MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela commenting, “We are making good progress in addressing the technical insolvency that resulted from non-cash accounting entries at the end of the last financial year.”

Mawela noted that the group’s net equity position is expected to recover by November.
With regard to Zambia’s losses, the company attributed them to extensive power outages caused by drought, leaving some regions with up to 23 hours of daily outages.

The company also cited competition from streaming services and changes in viewer preferences as pressures on its traditional pay-TV model.

To adapt, MultiChoice invested an additional ZAR1.6 billion in its streaming service Showmax, which reported 50% year-over-year growth.
Mawela added, “Showmax strategically positions the business to actively participate in the streaming revolution as it gains momentum across Africa.”

Entertainment

My ex made me a gold digger — Actress Sarah Martins

Published

5 days ago

November 12, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nollywood actress Sarah Martins has narrated how she became a gold digger.

The actress made this known while reacting to Veekee James’ story of abuse and financial exploitation by her ex-lover.

In a trending post on her Instagram page, Sarah explained that she turned gold digger after her former lover established another woman with her money.

She wrote: “After listening to Veekee James experience in her former relationship, all I can say is, stop overplaying your role in a relationship!

“There was a time I gave my ex 50% of my salary for 6 months and he was giving the money to another woman. He even funded her business from my sweat and the lady got married to someone else months after he funds her business.

“I’m a lover girl and I go hard for people I love but ever since them show me shege on top my kind heart, I no dey give man shishi! With my full chest, I am currently a gold digger!”

Entertainment

Wizkid creates dance challenge for his song ‘Dance’, fans react

Published

5 days ago

November 12, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

With some exciting news, Nigerian Grammy Award-winning singer Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known as Wizkid, has caused a stir among music lovers.

The singer is set to release a new song from his Morayo album titled “Dance” on Friday, November 15, 2024. Recall that the singer previously released a song with Brent Faiyaz titled “Piece of My Heart.”

Despite not having been released yet, “Dance” is already popular on social media, particularly on video sites, where fans are performing amazing dance moves for the song.

Wizkid has demonstrated his global talent by transitioning from his superstar and Ayo albums to the Made in Lagos and MLLE period. His next song “Dance,” a timeless Afrobeats song that has fans buzzing even before its release, suggests that he has listened to his followers.

His official DJ, DJ Tunez, has previously hinted about the song during a London party.

See videos of the dance move below