A man, identified only as David, caused a stir at the retail outlet of Scanfrost, at the Ketu end of the Ikorodu Road, Lagos State.
He brought out a knife and threatened to kill workers in the place if he did not see Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde, whom he claimed to be his ‘wife’.
Omotola is a Nollywood actress who is also a model for Scanfrost, an electronics home appliances manufacturing firm.
Billboards bearing the pictures of the actress had been placed outside the retail outlet and at its entrance.
Two weeks ago when David first made his appearance in the area, he was reported to have made enquiries on the whereabouts of Omotola.
He reportedly threatened mayhem if workers at the outlet did not meet his demand and produce his ‘wife.’
The death threat scared away some of the workers.
The owner of the outlet, however, did not take it seriously until on Monday when the suspect appeared again with a knife and started chasing the workers, calling out for Omotola.
Policemen from the Alapere division were said to have been invited to take him away.
When our correspondent visited the area on Tuesday, he was told that David had yet to return to the area.
It was learnt that the owner of the outlet, on the advice of the police, had bought a long whip in the event that he returned to foment trouble.
A witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said David was popular in the area.
She said, “He is a popular face here. He is a regular visitor to this place. He had been asking for Omotola for the past two weeks.
“Every time, he would say that he was looking for his wife, Omotola. He said he had paid the bride price on her and she was being held in the Scanfrost building.
“He had been threatening that if we didn’t produce his wife, he would kill people.
“There was a day I was alone and he suddenly rushed at me and started asking for Omotola. He was shouting, ‘where is my wife, where is Omotola?’ I told him I didn’t know where she was. I was really afraid because his look was scary and when I had my chance, I fled.”
The owner of the shop, who asked not to be named, said the suspect appeared to be from a good home.
“In my few interactions with him, he told me his father is the Babaloja of a market in this community. He always dresses well and every day, he wears different clothes.
“He said Omotola was his wife and I looked like her. He sometimes spoke Ikale dialect. He told me he saw Omotola a few days ago entering the building and we should bring her out.
“I asked him to enter the place himself and search to clear his doubt, but he declined and said we would kill him. The unfortunate thing is that he has driven away my workers because they are scared of him,” she said.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect brought out a knife around 5pm on Monday and started asking for his ‘wife’.
Some men were reported to have overpowered him and taken the weapon from him.
A resident said, “He was saying if people liked, they should kill him, that he did not care. Even when the police came, he dared them to shoot him.”
An aide of the Nollywood actress, Damilare Daniel, when contacted, said her boss was not aware of the incident.
He said, “When did this happen? I am not aware sir. Please give me some time and let me get to my boss because I don’t think she is aware also. We will get back to you soon.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident, but said investigations by the command revealed that David was mentally ill.
“After interrogation, our operatives discovered that he was mental,” she said.
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