Since the report of his purported assault of a Dana Air staff emerged online, colleagues of Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke and filmmakers alike have been divided on a segment of the social media on the issue. While some were quick to castigate the actor for being in the news again for his ‘bad boy’ personae, others pleaded caution, saying it is necessary to hear the actor’s side of the story.
Thus, when the actor refuted the story, claiming it was concocted because he was merely being accompanied by a policeman at the Muritala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, those who had pleaded for retrain chided the others for being judgmental.
According to Iyke, he was running late to catch a Dana Air flight to Abuja when an ‘overzealous’ security guard got into an argument with his Personal Assistant (P.A), only for the former to invite the police, claiming the P.A hit and pushed him.
He explained that it was merely a matter of tempers fraying which was later resolved amicably, saying that he was shocked upon arrival to hear that he was rumoured to have been arrested by the police.
The narrative did not go well with the actor’s critics who feel that indeed, there is no smoke without fire.
According to one of them, “…If he didn’t touch the Dana staff, there’s no way the police would ask him to follow them as seen in the clip. Even if he didn’t, he must have created a scene which was deemed to be disturbing the peace and had to be asked to go with the police.”
“I have witnessed three personal flips of Jim Iyke over the years; two in Surulere in 2005 … and another at AMAA 2007 or 2008 in Bayelsa. My conclusions are not based on this report,” says another.
His critics believe the thespian has anger management issues that needed to be taken care of. “He himself confessed to going for therapy in an interview with City People or some other soft sell mag some years back,” another recalled.
“Some of us still remember how he used to beat up his ex-girlfriend (name withheld) then, we also will not forget how he beat up Pat Osaigbovo ( a soft sell journalist who relocated to Europe) in Winnis hotel . He even destroyed several bottles of assorted drinks inside a store beside Winnis hotel in the process of beating up the journalist,” another recounted.