Jim Iyke’s art of war

Who exactly is actor, Jim Iyke? A good boy with a bad reputation? A bad boy with a good cause? Or a bad boy trying so hard to be seen as anything but bad?

The Nollywood star is finding it hard to define his identity. And each time it looks like he‘s making some progress, something or someone will show up from nowhere and drag him in another direction. First, it was the roles – those ‘nasty‘ roles that painted him as a heart-breaker and trouble maker. Then, he blamed the press – especially reporters on the beat, who are quick to crucify him without bothering to consider that he‘s human.

Troubled and unhappy with the direction his career was sailing, he launched the ‘Bad boy with a good cause‘ campaign and got us all having a rethink for a minute. Yes, a minute! Because soon he was releasing a lack-lustre music album, curiously titled Who Am I? If his ‘bad boy with a good cause‘ campaign polished his image (especially with the Charity efforts attached to it), the album Who Am I? dragged him in the mire and revealed his underpants – with many insinuating the album‘s title was a reflection of Jim’s state of mind.

Now, a fresh scandal is brewing; bringing in another dimension to Mr. Iyke’s troubles.

It was the actor himself, through his publicist, who told journalists last week that an Abuja-based lady was planning to speak to the press, to narrate how Jim allegedly beat her up and tried to strangle her. Just like it is on the war front, Jim and his team pulled a fast one on the lady, getting to the media with their own side of the story, even before she had the chance to grant her first interview. He admits dating the lady, but alleges she‘s out to blackmail him because he walked out of the affair and refused a pregnancy she‘s forcing on him.

“That lady is just out to blackmail our client. She claims to have a medical report from a hospital in Abuja that Jim tried to strangle her; anybody can get a medical report as far as I’m concerned. Her accusations are baseless and fabricated. She was bent on getting pregnant for Jim, and his refusal led to the breakdown of their relationship,” the statement from Iyke‘s publicist reads.

The lady in question, Hauwa Tutupie Sherrif has a different story, as she told e-Punch over the phone. “I know he has been going around with stories that I am out to blackmail him and hold him down with pregnancy. I have no reason to do that. I have witnesses; my Dad is a living witness. He saw what Jim did to me, but I had to lie to him. Even my sister is aware of it and I have evidence to back it up.”

Miss Sheriff, who is an OAP with Rhythm FM in Abuja, says she has evidence to back her claims. She also alleges Iyke‘s Charity is a fraud.

Apart from the release issued by his publicists, BIGSAM Media, Iyke says he has no further comments on the matter.

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