The ordeal of a NJ concert promoter and his son being held captive in Angola is far from over.
The NY Daily News reports that concert promoter Patrick Allocco, 51, and his son Patrick, 22, of Morristown, NJ, are still being held against their will in a seedy motel “in a nightmarish dispute with a furious Angolan promoter and his gun-toting henchmen.”
According to the paper, Nas, along with budding female rapper Jemiah Jai, reportedly pocketed $315,000 in advance — but never boarded a plane to perform New Year’s shows in Luanda, the Angolan capital.
“That they’re being held for something that somebody else did is preposterous,” said worried wife and mother Abby Allocco.
The moment the Allocco’s discovered that Nas was not coming to Angola on New Year’s they attempted to flee, but their driver stopped at a store, claiming he had to meet someone. Fearing they were being set up, the father and son jumped out of the taxi but they were quickly surrounded by armed thugs toting AK-47s on the orders of Angolan promoter Henrique Miguel.
The pair were taken to a police station where they were interrogated for six and a half hours and released. But they are not free to go.
According to the Daily News, a public prosecutor said that the junior Allocco could leave if they repaid $300,000, Allocco said. The Angolan promoter wants $75,000 more.
On Jan. 23, Nas ante’d up the $300,000 he owed to the Angolan promoter. But Jemiah Jai has not returned the $15,000 she owes. So the men are forced to live in the “Epic Sana Hotel, a no frills joint with hot water, electricity and two beds — at the cost of $500 a night.”
Their funds are depleted by $40,000 in phone calls to American authorities, and the exorbitant cost of food and bare necessities — a hamburger is $45.
The American Embassy in Angola refused their applications for refuge, saying they didn’t meet one of the requirements for refuge: a serious threat of bodily harm.
The Angolan government has also refused to intervene. “The government is not involved,” said consulate spokesman Manuel Antonio.
Despite their horrific experience at the hands of the Angolan promoter and his thugs, Allocco says his beef is with Nas.
“He put us in real harm, in real possible danger,” Allocco said. “This is the closest thing we came to someone up and running with the money.”
