In May 2023, John Attah, former director at HipTV, announced a casting call for extras to act in his debut movie, WILDnRECKLESS.

He was still shooting scenes when he made a public announcement saying Ijeoma Otabor; popularly known as Phyna from the Big Brother Naija reality TV show, would star in the movie alongside Bolanle Ninalowo, a popular Nigerian actor.

The marketing strategy worked and 80 people signed up through an agent to act as extras. They agreed to appear on Attah’s movie set on July 30 and 31, 2023, for a fee of N9,000 per day. The agent was to get N2,000 from each person’s wage.

On July 30, all the parties involved showed up at the location in Lagos but the shoot did not happen as planned. Speaking with FIJ, some of the extras said Phyna failed to make an appearance and, because she was the star actress, they spent the whole day waiting but nothing happened.

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They said that Attah renegotiated with them to stay on set for three days, instead of two, and they agreed. They would then be on the set until August 1, 2023.

“We didn’t shoot on the first day but we weren’t told the cause,” some of the extras told FIJ.

“Attah just told us we would get paid. On that first day, we waited but did not see Phyna.

“On the second day, Phyna came, we shot some scenes and we continued until the third day when she left the set. We continued shooting after she left.

“When shooting was over, he paid us for two days, and said we should go and meet 1xBET for our balance. The company is his major sponsor, and he said they had not given him money.”

The extras complained to the agent and he added Attah to a WhatsApp group to address them. After complaining of bearing the entire financial burden alone, and promising them more work in future, he left the group.

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Addressing them before his exit, Attah said, “As you might already be aware, the production faced unexpected hurdles including a sudden shortage of finance and unforeseen problem caused by the leading lady’s absence on the first day of filming leading to a day extension which payments pending(sic).

“These challenges have led to a situation where we are unable to complete the production as originally planned as the leading lady unprofessionally walked out on all of us under a flimsy excuse, thus putting the entire production on hold and at risk of rendering all our time, talent and millions invested in the project to waste. GFBD!

“I deeply regret that these circumstances have affected you as well, causing delays in your compensation for the additional day of work. Please know that I am actively working to find a solution to this situation. I am in the process of seeking potential investors who can provide the necessary funding to organise a one-day shoot to finalise the remaining scenes and fulfil our commitments to both the film and the cast.”

When FIJ contacted Attah on September 2 via WhatsApp, he said he was yet to pay the N720,000 he owed as he was looking for about N3 million or N4 million to complete his movie.

Attah blamed Phyna for the delay in his shoot. He said, “Unfortunately, we were unable to conclude filming as one of the leading actors left the set unexpectedly, causing disruptions to the production.”

He, however, failed to give a date when he would pay the extras.

FIJ was unable to independently verify the claims Attah and the extras made about Phyna’s conduct on the set and her absence at press time.