The Register is reporting that ‘Nigerian comedian and actor Nkem Owoh’ has been arrested in Amsterdam as a suspected 419 scammer:
Nigerian comedian and actor Nkem Owoh was one of the 111 suspected 419 scammers arrested in Amsterdam recently as part of a seven month investigation, dubbed Operation Apollo.
Owoh became a well known star within the Nigerian film industry, sometimes colloquially known as Nollywood because of its trite plots, poor dialogue, terrible sound, and low production standards.
Owoh starred in the 2003 film Osuofia, and a year later was one of several actors temporarily banned from appearing in movies by Nigeria’s Association of Movie Marketers and Producers because he demanded excessive fees and unreasonable contract demands.
Owoh became internationally known for his song “I Go Chop Your Dollar”, the anthem for 419 scammers (“Oyinbo man I go chop your dollar, I go take your money and disappear / 419 is just a game, you are the loser, I am the winner”, full lyrics here), which was banned in Nigeria after many complaints.
The song was the title track from the comedy, “The Master”, starring Owoh as a scheming 419er.
The alleged scammers are suspected of running a series of lottery-based (AKA 419-lite) scams.
Here’s the video for “I Go Chop Your Dollar”.
It’s not exactly cut and dried, though. This thread suggests that he wasn’t arrested for fraud; instead that the Dutch authorities detained pretty much everyone at his concert. This article suggests similar:
The Netherlands police were said to have stormed the venue of the show in a helicopter about 2a.m and arrested practically everybody at the venue. […]
“Over 200 of them (Nigerians) were arrested that night. It was a big haul; they came with helicopter and cars and circled the whole area. As I speak with you, over 70 of those apprehended that night have been deported for possession of expired or fake immigration papers.
“Osuofia was also whisked away but was released hours after,” the source said.
Update: It appears Osuofia was not arrested after all; lots more details here.
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