Nollywood has been referred to by many as the most scandalous sector in the entertainment industry. Some claim that trouble has a way of finding the actors and actresses while others have said it comes with the territory.

Here are some actors and actresses who controversies have trailed for one reason or the other:

Ini Edo

Inibong Edobong, better known as Ini Edo, has been synonymous with sex scandals in the industry. She was believed to have snatched her husband, Philip Ehiagwina from society lady, Ruth Okoro and also linked with a romantic affair with a governor in the South-South region of Nigeria. She was rumored to have recently left a club with another man.

Chika Ikeh

Second, we have Chika Ikeh. As lots of people migrate from Facebook to Twitter so has this sultry actress who some of her scandals emanated from her tweets. First she tweeted the N5 million naira cheque she received for shaving her hair for a movie and followed with tweeting her WAEC result to prove her age to those who accused her of reducing her age. When this beauty opened a boutique called ‘Fancy Nancy’ in Abuja, a barrage of accusations met her attempt at entrepreneurship as many speculated she couldn’t have gotten the money from her acting but from a politician. She was yet again in the news with reports of her heading to court to file for a divorce from Tony Eberiri, the husband she allegedly married in 2006.

Tonto Dikeh

Tonto Dikeh is unarguably the most controversial Nollywood actress. Her bouts of controversies attributed to her rise in fame. Since her break into Nollywood in 2006, the daring actress has played all kinds of roles, most of which bothered on near nudity and what many love to call soft porn. She made is still makes headlines not only with her movies and most recently music; but also with reports of her relationship first with Wiz Kid, then Iyanya and now Solid Star.

Cossy Orjiakor

Although Cossy Orjiaku’s career in the industry was short lived, her tendencies to flaunt her body parts especially her boobs at every opportunity have become the label through which people identify her. She was rumored to have had intercourse with a dog for a fee but Cossy has denied this at every turn. She went on to build a house which she called ‘Play Girl Mansion’ after Hugh Hefner’s popular ‘Play Boy Mansion’ and got a knock from people who accused her of acquiring the money through shady means since she is no longer active in Nollywood and not affiliated to any business whatsoever. Her tweets have also sparked abuses and comments from people especially her most recent tweet where she claimed to be HIV positive after just going for a test. She said this was to prove those who claimed she had the virus wrong. She even went on to urge her accusers to go ahead and take the test.

Jim Iyke

Nollywood bad boy Jim Iyke is apparently a bad boy off screen, he has continued to disappoint fans with scandals he could have avoided. Jim was banned alongside Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Genevieve Nnaji by the movie marketers in 2005 after they reportedly requested exorbitant fees to feature in movies. He once engaged a commercial taxi driver in a brawl under Ojuelegba bridge. He has also engaged Victor Obodo, a journalist working with the now rested Fame weekly magazine in fisticuffs. The most recent is his rumoured scripting of his reality show ‘Jim Iyke unscripted’

Emeka Ike

Prolific actor, Emeka Ike was never seen as a controversial person but his battle for power with fellow actor, Segun Arinze put him in that category. Emeka was seen as the ‘black sheep’ of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) when he was persistent in his fight against Segun over the post of the presidency of the Guild. When Segun resigned, he still went ahead to disrupt the Guild’s election making.

Many have attributed the genesis of Nollywood controversies to the desire to remain relevant and not be swept into oblivion by new talents. The desire for relevance is not new as Hollywood is also rife with controversies. The question then remains: do these controversies help to keep things interesting in the movie industry or will it be the undoing of the industry? Hollywood still stands despite all of the controversies attached to popular actors and actresses; Nollywood may very well stand the test of controversies too.

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