A tale of 2Baba, a photographer, lawsuits and defamation

– 2Baba was a member of the defunct plantashun boiz group

– He got married to a former babymama, Annie Idibia

– A photographer that covered the wedding sued him for an encroachment on his right

The entertainment industry in Nigeria and the world over is familiar with celebrity dramas and beefs.

The story of 2Baba, now often referred to as one Africa’s most successful musicians in recent years, began in the year 2000 when the Plantashun Boiz dropped the album Body & Soul, a pop project with heavy R&B and reggae influences among other genres.

The album was well received by Nigerian and non-Nigerian audiences with the hit songs Don’t You Know, Knock Me Off, You And I, If Life and Ememma, to name a few.

The group was young, brilliant and completely in tune with the pop culture of the early 2000s, but one thing was unmistakable: 2face, now referred to as 2Baba, was the ‘goose with the golden egg’.

He was the superstar of the group of three that also had Faze and Blackface.

In 2004, following the group splitting, Innocent ‘2Baba’ Idibia crossed over from Dove Records and pitched his tent with Kennis Music under the leadership of the entertainment gurus, Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye, which led to the album Face 2 Face.

The partnership opened a whole new vista for the singer and the Nigerian music industry, crossing our sounds into international stages and markets, bringing about multi-million naira endorsement deals, and resulted in the decade-defining African Queen – a song so good it made its way into Hollywood.

2Baba went on to deliver magic in his following albums, Grass To Grace, Unstoppable, Away and Beyond and The Ascension.

READ ALSO: See What Tuface And Annie Were Spotted Doing On Their Daughter’s Birthday (PHOTOS)

In 2015, he marked his 40th birthday which was celebrated in a festival-like manner by all and sundry from within and outside the entertainment industry.

Baby father

But like every other successful man he had his limitations. 2Baba was a happy-go-lucky young man who enjoyed the boisterous life of being a celebrity and he ‘paid the price’ of fathering children with multiple women.

He had a baby with his old time lover Annie Idibia, eventually marrying her. Then children with Pero Adeniyi and Sumbo Ajaba-Adeoye made it a total of seven children from three separate relationships.

The good thing about him was how he accepted the babies unlike many of his colleagues in the industry who have often denied their babies or refused to settle down with one woman.

Marriage

When it came to settling down with one of his three baby mamas, 2Baba faced several challenges occasioned by endless criticism and savage media scrutiny.

Eventually, he settled down with Annie Idibia, whom he has often called his soulmate.

On Saturday, March 12, 2013, the Enter The Place crooner eventually got married to Annie Idibia in a posh Dubai wedding and the battle to keep the man ‘on a leash’ afterwards has been herculean.

Insiders will tell you that being in a relationship with a successful male entertainer is not child’s play, not to talk of a marriage.

Annie Idibia is assumed to be accommodating or she would not be married to the pop star anymore judging by how much female attention he gets.

But she is human after all is said and done. In February 2016, she took to Instagram to vent about a certain young lady named Ayabime Okpo who is reportedly a niece of the media magnate Raymond Dokpesi.

Several unconfirmed reports say Ayabime and 2Baba had been involved in a romantic affair since her days as an undergraduate at the University of Lagos way before he settled down with Annie.

Rumour mills also said she became pregnant by the music star along the line but refused to keep the baby, and that upon returning from her masters course at Swansea University she reignited the flame with the singer.

This led to Annie’s Instagram tantrums in February, though she deleted the post later: “Pls tag her family members to put this woman in order….she needs to stop bugging my family….Am a peaceful person…won’t embarrass you by munching all your messages here… stay away rich kid.”

Pero Adeniyi’s stunts in early 2016

This is not the only storm Annie has had to weather. In late January 2016, at the weekend around January 23 and 24, the music star was spotted chilling in a club with Pero Adeniyi, one of his baby mamas.

Actually, he wasn’t just chilling, he was spotted kissing Pero, and when pictures of this leaked into the full glare of the public Annie was ticked off once again.

Gossip blogger Stella Dimokorkus broke the story saying the singer and Pero were comfortably seated in the VIP section of his Festac night club Rumours as they kissed and smooched like nothing was at stake.

She went on to release pictures to corroborate her claims. She also added that Annie, upon learning of the situation and storming the club, was diverted to a private part of the club where she waited in a locked room for some time so that upon being let out the ‘scene’ was over between her husband and Pero.

Denying that she went to the club to confront her husband and in response to other things, Annie spoke to another blog That1960Chick on the issue, explaining that she is aware of the leaked pictures but added that Pero Adeniyi poses no threat whatsoever to her marriage and relationship with Innocent ‘2Baba’ Idibia.

Here is what That1960Chick wrote on what Annie said: “I am aware of the photo’s circulating the internet with my husband and Pero Adeniyi. I want to state officially that I was not in that space at that time and therefore there was no confrontation between myself and Pero Adeniyi.

“Pero Adeniyi and this momentary indiscretion poses no threat whatsoever to my relationship with my husband. As a matter of fact for all of our children’s’ sake, I do encourage cordial relationships with parties involved.”

Accusations by ‘mystery’ photographer, claims, counter-claims and law suits

Annie is a victor. She has seen and surmounted more odds than many women of her age can or will surmount in one life time.

However, as though the many women troubling the peace in her marriage were not enough, in March 2016, a photographer ‘reared an ugly head’ with allegations that he was shortchanged by 2Baba and his wife Annie, a situation he was ready to sue for.

2Baba and Annie claimed the photographer was merely planning to extort them as he had a premeditated plan to blackmail them.

Channels TV reported that the photographer, Mr. Emmanuel Okolo, filed a 120 million naira copyright infringement suit after photographs of the couple he had taken were used without crediting him. He sued the couple in a case that went before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos. He then asked for damages to the tune of N120,000 for copyright infringement.

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According to several media outfits, the photographer was present at the traditional wedding of Innocent and Annie Idibia in Uyo in 2013 and took pictures of the couple.

He then went on to brand the images with Papilonmexy, his brand name, but the images were later uploaded to the singer’s website without the photographer getting due credit.

According to Channels, the photographer claimed he released the images to the couple for free on the grounds that he would be credited and given referrals for other jobs. This is the crux of the matter.

In response, the couple urged Justice Idris to ignore the lawsuit and went on to file a counter-claim wherein they demanded the sum of N150,000,000 as compensation from Emmanuel Okolo and his studio.

Channels TV also reported the couple as saying Okolo crashed the venue of the traditional wedding and then took photos which he went on to circulate for personal gain without duly contacting the couple or gaining their permission.

And according to 2Baba and Annie, Okolo was never invited to their wedding ceremony. Rather he was, in their words, “one of the numerous photographers and pseudo-professionals and artisans who invaded the venue of the ceremonies to eke out a living for themselves without prior consultation with or the consent of the celebrants.”

He took the pictures and then went on to circulate them with his company brand name on them; an act that made the couple angry.

When confronted, he pleaded with the couple that he was involved in photography to make ends meet. After which he reportedly forced the pictures on them with the intention of leveraging on their goodwill and fame in order to get referrals.

According to several sources, the couple agreed to use the photos on the singer’s site only after the watermarks were taken off, a condition the photographer agreed to.

Hence, it came as a shocking surprise that he was pressing charges after the pictures had been uploaded.

For this and more, the singer and his wife have sued the photographer demanding N150,000,000 for blackmailing them and unduly commercializing their pictures.

Outside court agreements/ settlements?

This is clearly a case of gross misunderstanding and encroachment by one party on another’s rights. But you know what’s funny? 2Baba and everyone connected to him will win because theirs is a more credible version of things. As a matter of fact, two things will happen afterwards:

READ ALSO: What 2face Idibia said in response to Blackface’s copyright allegations

1. The photographer will pay the N150,000,000 damages for stirring the pot and getting the court involved in the first place or he will drop his charges and act like nothing ever happened.

2. He will lose that drop of fame he has struggled to get as a result of this episode.

And this will be the end of everything, excepting of course if Mr. Emmanuel Okolo can establish with incontrovertible evidence and beyond every doubt that first he was invited to take pictures at the wedding ceremony, and secondly he had a detailed agreement that his pictures will be used with the watermarks on them for the purpose of spreading his brand reach.

Otherwise, anything else is irrelevant and will never hold water in court or out of court, and that’s that about that.

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