AMA Award Winners Stranded in Nigeria

The Ghanaian delegation who left the country over the weekend to attend the African Movie Academy Awards in Nigerian have allegedly been left to their fate after sweeping several awards at the main event on Saturday April 10, 2010.

According to information gathered by peacefmonline the 30 member delegation comprising Ghanaian film makers, actors, actresses and journalist were supposed to have left Nigeria on their way back to Ghana on Sunday April 11, but up till now they have no idea when they will be flown back home as planned.

Ken Attoh director of photography and creativity for Sparrow Production told Peacefmonline this morning from Bayelsa State in Nigerian that they were stranded. “Yes, bluntly speaking we are stranded here in Nigeria. We are getting information, that we may not be able to leave as and when we were supposed to and we will probably end up leaving at about 7pm on Monday which was not what we were told before we came to Nigeria.

This means that we may not be able to leave Nigeria until Tuesday morning. Some of us have work to do, some are supposed to go back on set basically the whole thing is a huge mess”, Ken narrated. He praised the organizers for putting together such a great event to honour film makes and actors on the continent.

According to Ken, everything went well on the awards night held at Yenogoa, the capital of Bayelsa state, but he professed that the aftermath of the glamorous event and protocol arrangement are nothing to write home about.

Some of the familiar names still waiting to be flown back home include Oscar Provincal, King Ampaw, John Domelo, Kalsum Sinare, Jackie Appiah, Samira Yakubu, Akofa Edjiam Asiedu, Lydia Forson, Adjetey Anang also knowns as ‘Pusher’, Godwin Kortey, Ken Attoh and a host of others.

However Akorfa Edgeani Asiedu spoke to Kwami Sefa Kayi this morning on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme on the same issue. She was quite economical and diplomatic with the fact and only described the whole incident as ‘a little challenge’. She insisted that we should rather concentrate on the awards that Ghanaian swept on the night, though she confirmed that they are still waiting to be flown back home.

Jackie Appiah who won the ‘Best performer by an actress in a leading role’ also spoke to peacefmonline. “I am still in Nigeria, we are all here we will be coming back to Ghana, God willing tomorrow. We have gathered here from around the world, so most of the flights are fully booked. So we are still here. Ghanaians should expect us back home soon”, she told peacefmonline this morning on phone.

Our investigations also revealed that the Ghanaians were being forced out of the hotel where they lodging in because the time they were booked for them to stay in the hotel is over. According to our sources in Nigeria they have been given up to 12noon this afternoon to vacate their, hotel or they will be forced out.

Keep reading for more details as the story unfolds.