By the end of its fourth episode, Africa Magic’s latest drama series, The Split, has made one thing abundantly clear: there is no such thing as clean stolen money, only delayed consequences.
Set within the high-pressure world of the Nigerian banking system, the series opens with a deceptively simple premise. Three bankers, Abdul (Baaj Adebule), Tola (Anee Icha) and Harriet (Eseosa Bernard), divert ₦24 million from an account that appears abandoned. The account holder has been dead for years. There is no listed beneficiary. No outstanding claim. In the logic of broken systems, the money feels fair game as no one has claimed it.
Episodes 1 to 4 explore the psychology behind the fraud. Each character arrives at the crime already compromised and cornered as the theft becomes a pressure point.
Abdul is introduced as a charming and compulsive gambler staring down the realities of marriage, impending fatherhood and mounting debt. His desperation is not subtle, its urgent and his decisions to offset them are increasingly reckless. When he loses ₦2 million to SportyBet after accessing stolen funds, The Split uses this as an opportunity to point out how more money or access to it does not solve addiction; it accelerates it.
Tola’s storyline is simply sad. Jilted by her husband and drowning in debt, she represents the emotional cost of financial abandonment. Her involvement in the fraud is driven more by survival than by greed. However, the arrival of Ezekiel Adeniji (David Jones David), son of the deceased account holder, turns that survival instinct into fear. His decision to bargain with her for a cut of the money, rather than immediately expose the crime, complicates the power dynamics and introduces a slow-burn menace that grows more unsettling with each episode.
Harriet’s arc exposes a different kind of fraud, one that is emotionally driven. Giving her life savings to a married lover promising escape and migration, she becomes collateral damage to a con who never intended to make her dreams come true. Her story reinforces one of The Split’s strongest themes, that ‘deception thrives where hope is weaponised.’
The introduction of Ezekiel is the series’ turning point. Fresh out of prison and burdened by his own debts, he is neither a hero nor an outright villain. Instead, he is the consequence of their actions. Episodes 3 and 4 carefully position him as a looming threat, one that is patient, calculating and somewhat unpredictable. His presence reframes the bankers’ actions, transforming what they believed was a “seamless” crime into a ticking time bomb.
What ‘The Split’ does especially well in its early episodes is in its pacing. There are no grand speeches about corruption or exaggerated villains. The tension comes from watching ordinary people make one bad decision after another; each justified in the moment, each harder to undo.
By episode 4, the stakes have shifted. This is no longer about covering up a fraud or saving careers. It is about personal safety, family, and the fear that the past might come back to haunt them.
Catch up on Episodes 1–4 of The Split on the DStv and GOtv Stream apps or on Showmax, and watch new episodes on Africa Magic Showcase (DStv Channel 151 | GOtv Channel 8) on Thursdays and Fridays at 8:30pm.
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