Actor Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye, popularly known as Strika, has jailed after he was found guilty of cutting metal railings from the Kwashieman footbridge in Accra to sell as scrap.
Strika, who gained international recognition as a child actor after starring in the acclaimed 2015 war drama Beasts of No Nation, was reportedly caught in connection with the removal of the metal railings from the pedestrian footbridge.
The incident drew attention because of Strika’s background in the Ghanaian film industry and his involvement in one of the most internationally recognised Ghanaian film productions in recent years.
The actor was one of the young Ghanaian talents featured in Beasts of No Nation, a film that also propelled Abraham Attah, who played the lead character Agu, to international fame.
The circumstances surrounding Strika’s conviction mark a striking contrast to the early promise he showed as a young actor following the release of the internationally acclaimed movie.
Beasts of No Nation is a 2015 American war drama film written, co-produced and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who also served as the film’s cinematographer.
The movie tells the story of a young boy who becomes a child soldier as his country is engulfed in a brutal and devastating war.
Shot largely in Ghana, the film featured a cast comprising international and Ghanaian actors, including Idris Elba, Abraham Attah, Ama K. Abebrese, Grace Nortey, David Dontoh, Opeyemi Fagbohungbe and Strika.
The film was adapted from Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel of the same name. The book’s title itself was inspired by a Fela Kuti album.
Abraham Attah, who played Agu, went on to receive widespread acclaim for his performance and secured further acting opportunities outside Ghana.
Strika, meanwhile, did not achieve a similar level of sustained visibility in the years following the film’s release.
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