AGN suspends Nollywood actress Halima Abubakar

The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has suspended Nollywood actress Halima Abubakar over alleged slander.

The guild, in a statement published on its verified Instagram page, claimed that a two-year investigation by a panel it established showed that Halima slandered some of her colleagues.

“Following the thorough investigative report by the special Secret Investigation Panel set up to conduct an internal underground secret investigation into the activities of some blogs/bloggers since 2022,” the AGN wrote.

“After two years of painstaking investigations, the Panel found out that Miss Halima Abubakar was behind all the slandering information of our members, associates and patrons, especially news of extramarital affairs linked with highly placed individuals in the society emanating from the industry.”

The association said Halima, despite the suspension, would still face disciplinary action.

“Therefore, Halima Abubakar is hereby placed on indefinite suspension from the Actors Guild of Nigeria. She will face the National Disciplinary Committee to determine her full punishment. During this period of her suspension, she is not permitted to participate in any AGN and or filming activities.

“The National/State Chapter Taskforces have been duly mandated to monitor the compliance of the above order as violations of the suspension rules may lead to further disciplinary actions.”

The AGN also stated that some unnamed female members of the association are currently under observation by the investigative panel.

“However, some female members on the watch list are being investigated by the secret panel, especially in the recent release of names purported to have had dealings with the Senate President.”

It is unclear what impact such suspension would have on Halima’s career. Although the AGN has a lot of members, not all actors are members of the group and its actions cannot prevent independent movie producers from choosing to feature Halima.

Halima’s previous controversy

In a controversial claim that made headlines in 2022, Halima accused Johnson Suleman, the Senior Pastor and General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, of breaking his promise to marry her.

She also alleged that the cleric inflicted her with a life-threatening illness, a condition she claimed had tormented her for years.

Not long after Halima disclosed her affairs with the controversial cleric, the popular blog Gistlover published a long list of Nollywood actresses allegedly sexually associated with Mr Suleman. Many of them denied the allegation, same as the cleric.

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The allegations escalated when, in January 2023, Mr Suleman responded by filing a N1 billion defamation lawsuit against the actress, insisting that her claims were unfounded and damaging to his reputation.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Abuja High Court ordered Halima to pay N10 million as damages for libel.

The 39-year-old Halima began her acting career in 2001 with a minor role in ‘Rejected’ and later landed her first lead role in Gangster Paradise.