Popular actress and singer, Oluwaseyi Ariyo a.k.a Shebaby has said she has been getting death threats from some masquerade worshipers over a scene in ‘Asiri Pepe’, her forthcoming film.
In a video she made which was shared on her Instagram page, the actress said that the said scene involved a masquerade sleeping with a woman.
According to Shebaby, someone had secretly recorded the scene while she was shooting the film and thereafter shared it on social media platforms.
The actress said the video had caught the attention of some masquerade worshippers who accused her of attempting to destroy the cultures and traditions of the Yoruba people.
Shebaby, who had shared a photo of the threat containing her picture, called on Nigerians to mediate in the matter.
“Please Nigerians, come to my aid. I did a movie recently titled ‘Asiri Pepe’ and we used a masquerade. The masquerade was made to sleep with the character in the said movie. While we were filming the scene, someone secretly recorded it on his/her phone and shared it on the social media,” she said.
“Masquerade worshippers saw the clip and they have started threatening me since last week. They said I would die in the next seven days. Please help me to beg them, I have sent several people to plead on my behalf but they didn’t honour that.
“I was accused of denigrating the culture and traditions of the people. The traditionalists alleged that I planned to soil the Yoruba traditions In the mud. I’d never do that.”
In a post following the video, the role interpreter said the project is focused on enlightening “people on religious realities beyond the altar and in fact, the impact of looking down on the African religion.”
“I would never look down on our heritage and rich culture. The movie ‘Asiri Pepe’ was produced to enlighten people on religious realities beyond the altar and in fact, the impact of looking down on the African religion,” she added.
“When ‘Asiri Pepe’ finally hits the screen you’d see for yourself that it is not a movie that was produced to disregard the African Heritage.”