LAGOS — Nollywood actor and veteran
comedian, Alhaji King Babatunde Ayinla
Nurudeen Olasunkanmi Omidina, a.k.a. Baba
Suwe was arrested Wednesday night, for possession of substances suspected to be
cocaine by the officials of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Baba Suwe was picked up at the International
wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in
Lagos, by the NDLEA officials, while boarding an
Air France flight to Paris, France. NDLEA sources revealed that Baba Suwe was
on his way to Paris to act as a master of
ceremony in a naming ceremony of an Air
France staff scheduled for tomorrow. Immediately he was arrested, NDLEA source
disclosed that the Air France staff was also
picked up. Alhaji King Babatunde Ayinla Nurudeen
Olasunkanmi Omidina, a.k.a. Baba Suwe The scanning machine at the airport detected
suspected substance hidden in Baba Suwe’s
stomach, but the suspect was alleged to have
denied that such drug was on his person. A second scanning proved that he was
carrying the said suspected substance and this
led to his immediate arrest. He would remain at
the NDLEA office at the airport until he starts
excreting the drugs. A source in the anti-drug agency said the
suspect has already excreted some of the
drugs he ingested but a large quantity was still
lodged in his system as at yesterday. The
source said the suspect was therefore given
some tea to drink which would enable him excrete the remaining drugs while he has been
placed on what he described as observation. Reacting to the sad news, the National
President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria(AGN),
Mr Segun Arinze described the act as “an
embarrassment to the Nigerian motion picture
industry.” “It is a sad development I must tell. If truly he is
arrested in connection with drug, he has come
to the end of his career. I feel highly
disappointed in him”. “We cannot destroy the image we have built
over the years because of the material things of
life. We will meet with the executives of the
Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts
Practitioners(ANTP) and decide on what to do
with him,”Arinze reacted from America. Also, notable film director and producer,
Lancelot Imasuen and president, Association of
Movie Producers (AMP) Paul Obazele
respectively condemned the act, describing it as
“tarnishing and one that will not do the image
of the industry any good.” “We are disappointed, it’s annoying. I’m short
of words, Baba Suwe is an icon and everybody
looks up to him in the industry’, Paul Obazele
said, while adding that “it is not good news at
all.” For Lancelot, “I’m not particularly happy
because it will affect all of us who usually travel
out of the country on regular basis.” Popular director of the epic Yoruba film
“Aramotu”, Niji Akanni, expressed shock
saying; ‘It’s abominable.’ But Yoruba actress
Foluke Daramola simply screamed, as she
declined to comment on the matter. Baba Suwe is a very successful and popular
Yoruba actor, famous for his comedy roles in
Yoruba movies. He is one of the icons in the film
industry, having worked with virtually
everybody in the industry. He is a recipient of
the African Artists and Entertainers Afro- Hollywood award in New York.