Handsome actor and producer, Saheed Balogun, has one dark secret that he’s been hiding from his teeming fans, YES International! magazine can now reveal. The Oro, Kwara State born role interpreter deflowered, impregnated and abandoned the mother of his first child! And with all the bitterness she could muster, the lady, Sherifat Yusuf, placed a curse on him.
A source who is very close to the distraught and devastated lady told us that ‘until Saheed goes to her to plead for forgiveness, he will continue to have issues with his marriages. The hell he went through in Fathia Balogun’s hands is only the beginning. He will go through worse things in the hands of any other woman he decides to replace Fathia with. The only way out is for him to go and beg Sherifat and his daughter and first child, Zainat, whom he abandoned almost 15 years ago’.
Expatiating on Saheed’s love quagmire, the source informed YES International! that: “The sad story dates back over a decade. As a matter of fact, the fruit of the union (Zainat) should be about 13 years or so now. Sherifat was only 22 when they met. She was so innocent and naive. Saheed was older and living with his uncle at the time in Ebute Metta, Lagos. He was Sheri’s first love and also the person that deflowered her. Sheri became pregnant along the line and later had a baby girl. Because Saheed was barely managing to survive then, during the child’s naming ceremony, he contributed nothing. Sheri’s parents (Alhaji and Alhaja Yusuf) who also loved and treated him like a son bore the entire expenses. Including the N5000 hospital bill. This was in 1998.
“The same Alhaji and Sheri’s uncle, Bode Yusuf, sponsored Saheed’s first movie. Then, from nowhere, Fathia breezed in from London and scattered everything. Perhaps with her money. Initially, Saheed denied having anything to do with Fathia when Sheri confronted him about her until their romance became public knowledge and he abandoned Sheri totally. In fact, after reading about their secret marriage in one of the magazines at the time, Sheri confronted him again and he denied it. It was two of Saheed’s friends, Sule Malaika and Akin Olaiya, who asked her to take heart; that it’s true. Even the likes of Babatunde Hassan (Ogogo), Yinka Quadri (Kura), late Bimpe Adekola (Ireti) and Akin Olaiya (Igwe) who all attended Zainat’s naming ceremony could not talk sense into Saheed then.
“The most painful thing is that there was a prophesy then that Zainat’s coming will cause Saheed to experience a reversal of fortune and also make his name to be known all over the world. The prophesy, of course, came to pass; only that the two people through whom it came have not enjoyed anything from it. Guess what? Saheed saw that baby last when she was only 2 years old. And he spoke to the child’s mother last about 10 years ago. The lady had called him then to ask for the child’s N20,000 school fees, which he claimed he didn’t have”. Besides Alhaji and Alhaja Yusuf who were shocked by Saheed’s neglect of their daughter and his child, the actor’s mother, Mrs. Sariyu Balogun and sister, Idiat, were also said to be sympathetic to Sheri’s cause until they too changed. But like our source stated again: “Saheed is owing Sheri, and whether or not he likes it, he must beg her for forgiveness otherwise what he’s going through in the hands of women will continue”.
Sheri, meanwhile, has finally moved on with her life. She’s in love with another man now. “Even though it wasn’t easy for her to do that”. Saheed Balogun and Fathia, YES International! findings uncovered, eventually got married in 1989. A very, very turbulent union, it was blessed with a son, Khalid, before both parties separated. Currently at war over Fathia’s continuous use of Saheed’s surname (Balogun), multiple allegations of infidelity and battery had characterized the union, which if Sherifat’s alleged ill-treatment by Saheed is to be believed, may be responsible for that. 45 year-old Fathia’s romance with acting started in Ilorin, Kwara State, during her days as a student of Kwara Polytechnic. An ex-pupil of Olufunmilayo Nursery School, Ikeja, Maryland Primary School, Ikeja and also Maryland Comprehensive High School, Alhaji Fatai Teniola of Tenifab Motion Pictures helped her realize her acting dream in 1990.
Some of her popular works are Asa, Afisuru, Omo Aje, Makomi, Ife, Igbagbo and Omowunmi. For Saheed, he was born on February 5, 1967. Also a product of Kwara State Polytechnic, where he studied Statistics, his primary education was at Army Children School, Obalende, Lagos and his secondary, Bishop Smith Grammar School in Ilorin, Kwara State. Hooking up with acting as far back as 1981, some of his works are Eti Keta, Omo Britiko, Modupe Temi, Omo Alhaja, Ologbo Dudu, Ife Gbona, Gbewiri, Owu and Ori.
Attempts to speak with him were futile. And our text message to him on Friday, February 14, 2014 was not attended to before we went to press.
No comments:
Post a Comment