‘Day armed robbers came for Funke Akindele while we were shooting ‘Omo Ghetto 2’ – Actress Bimbo Thomas

Nollywood actress, Bimbo Thomas, has recounted how the shooting of ‘Omo Ghetto 2: The Saga’ almost turned tragic when armed robbers invaded their hotel.

Thomas recalled that the movie, which portrayed gritty street life and gang culture, was being shot at Ebute Meta, Lagos.

According to her, the cast and crew were housed in hotels in the vicinity. She said she was previously in another hotel, before Funke Akindele, the producer, called her over to her own hotel. 

Speaking during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, Bimbo Thomas explained that tensions had been brewing long before the night of the attack. 

According to her, filming in the area attracted constant disruption from local hoodlums who felt the movie reflected their daily lives too closely.

She said, despite being familiar with the neighbourhood as she grew up there, she was not able to control the hoodlums, and they increasingly interfered with their work.

Thomas said the production team consequently had to increase security, which created tension. That tension, she believes, later spilt over into violence.

The robbery occurred late at night after filming had wrapped. She recalled that shortly before 1:00 a.m., loud banging and shouts shattered the calm. 

She recalled that it dawned on them that the hotel was under attack, and Funke Akindele was their main target.

Thomas said the women broke into prayers, as they made a desperate attempt to protect Akindele, first under the bed and then in the bathroom. 

But when the assailants eventually forced their way inside, they reportedly called Akindele by name and dragged her downstairs.

What followed was surreal. Thomas recalled hearing Akindele singing the movie’s popular theme song on the robbers’ orders — a moment that underscored how dangerously blurred the line between fiction and reality had become.

Security operatives later arrived, gunshots rang out, and the attackers fled. The aftermath left several people injured, and dozens traumatised.

Thomas said the incident stemmed from an earlier clash on set, where hoodlums who disrupted filming were arrested and forced to apologise — an action that may have provoked retaliation.

Reflecting on the ordeal, she admitted that fear could have pushed her into a fatal mistake.

“I was ready to fight back without thinking,” she said. “I could have died.”

Today, the actress says the experience remains a haunting reminder of how storytelling, when it hits too close to home, can invite real-world danger — and how survival, that night, was nothing short of divine mercy.

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