Unknown Soja (2025): A Hero's Quest For Vindication

Unknown Soja is a Nollywood murder mystery action thriller, that was released to cinemas across Nigeria on November 21^st, 2025. Directed by Marc Adebisin, and written by Omowunmi Victoria, the film has a runtime of 2 hours, 10 minutes. It follows Bayo, an ex-soldier who tragically loses his wife in a robbery gone wrong and must revisit traumas of the past in order to clear his name.

Synopsis

Bayo Koberu is an ex-soldier who now runs a high-end mechanic workshop and lives comfortably with his pregnant wife, Sade, and their daughter, Enitan. Sade is a food/nutrition content creator while Enitan is a young chess prodigy. The family lives in love and bliss, but Sade expresses disdain for Bayo’s lack of interest in her career and achievements, most recently displayed by him declining to accompany her to the ceremony of an award she had just won. However, Sade is also secretly receiving text messages from an unknown number that seemingly expresses fierce interest in her and Enitan, but she ignores them.

Soon, Bayo receives a car belonging to a high-profile client, Otunba. And for security purposes, he transfers the car to his own compound rather than leaving it in the workshop. He enters the house to meet an irate Sade, who is stressed and still upset about Bayo not accompanying her to the award ceremony. Later that night as they are both in bed, they argue about it, escalating to the point of Sade needing some time alone and she leaves the room. Shortly after that, the house is invaded by 3 armed robbers. They first demand for the keys to Otunba’s car, and Bayo initially refuses, but they then threaten to kill Enitan and violate Sade. Only then does he give in. However, while retrieving the keys from the bedroom, a gunshot is heard. He rushes back to the living room to find Sade shot in the stomach. The robbers, not having planned this, rush to escape with the car, and unfortunately Sade dies immediately.

Police detectives Korede and John take charge of the case, immediately ruling it as a premeditated murder rather than a robbery gone wrong, and Bayo is comforted by his best friend, Charles. Elsewhere the culprits argue amongst themselves about the murder, as it was not part of the plan. A murder will be more heavily investigated than a robbery, and thus puts them at bigger risk. However, they are revealed to be simply mercenaries hired by an anonymous client who warns them to clean up their mess and desist from linking his name if they are ever caught.

Meanwhile, the police have named none other than Bayo himself as a prime suspect in the case, citing his previous criminal record that had him dishonorably discharged from the army. He is later arrested after numerous screenshots sent from an anonymous source depict him communicating with the robbers, and the police trace some bits of fraudulent activity going on in his workshop. But he is later released on bail after Charles confronts Korede and shows her that the screenshots are so obviously fabricated. Upon returning home, Bayo is now faced with Sade’s sister and disdainful mother, Alhaja, who blames Bayo for Sade’s death. She berates him for not following the Islamic tradition of burying the deceased immediately. Despite Bayo’s pleas for her understanding, she continues to be hostile. It is then that we learn that she never approved of their marriage, and that Bayo and Sade had eloped to be together. We also learn that Sade was initially betrothed to Ibrahim, a wealthy Army General and Bayo’s commander, against her wishes, and it is speculated that the General might be behind Bayo’s supposed set-up that had him discharged, and thus the couple fled, hoping to start a new life in the city.

Soon, Bayo catches the employee in his workshop responsible for the theft and fraudulent activity and calls the detectives to his home to report it. When he gets there, however, he finds Korede questioning Enitan in the presence of Alhaja and Sade’s sister. Enitan reveals to Korede that Bayo had initially refused to give the robbers the car – a fact that he had omitted in his official statement. Despite his efforts, this information puts him back on the police’s suspect list, and further escalates Alhaja’s animosity towards him as she believes his refusal is what agitated the robbers to kill Sade.

Realizing that he is practically cornered, Bayo decides to begin his own investigation. With Charles’s help and a huge lead from an employee who accidentally witnessed the robbers attempting to plant the murder weapon in the workshop, he embarks on a dangerous quest to hunt down the culprits and the mastermind behind them. His findings lead him to a deadly confrontation at the climax where we make a shocking discovery about Sade and her ties to the events that led to her death.

Cast and Performances

Deyemi Okanlawon as Bayo
Omowunmi Dada as Sade
Desmond Elliot as General Ibrahim
Kehinde Bankole as Detective Korede
Roxy Antak as Charles
Darasimi Nadi as Enitan

I don’t even know…what to make of this movie and its characters. Talk about ‘all over the place’ personified. So first let me start with…

Who on God’s green earth’s idea was it for Desmond Elliot to don an Hausa accent??

Why was that a thing?

As far as the acting goes, that was the worst and most jarring part of this entire movie (which says a whole lot). I felt almost offended on behalf of the Hausa people as their language and way of speaking was reduced to a caricature of almost insulting stereotypes. If you wanted a traditionally Hausa character, then I don’t know, maybe cast a traditionally Hausa actor, or at least someone who understands the nuances of their speaking culture (especially as a wealthy educated man) without resorting to overexaggerated ‘p and f’ factors. I was irritated almost every step of the way and it honestly poisoned the very good performances that Deyemi and Omowunmi were putting on for us as Bayo and Sade, which I give them full accolades for. Truly, from the beginning to the end, those two gave us depth, chemistry, emotion, everything required for an excellent on-screen output. They, alongside Kehinde Bankole, were the silver lining of this movie (Roxy Antak is a notable mention too). 10 out of 10 for beautiful character work on their parts. The rest were either average at best, and unwatchable at worst.

What I Liked and Disliked

This movie is 2 hours long.

2 hours.

And I might not have had such a problem with that if it wasn’t for such a mediocre plot line. It came to a point where it looked like they included extremely random scenes to fill the runtime (a whole London scene for a character that has literally no contribution to the film and we would proceed to never see again is incredibly bad and wasteful production). As a result of this, the film both rushes and drags on at the absolute worst times for both instances. The unnecessary time given to Bayo’s investigation montage could’ve easily been used to further Bayo and Sade’s story because at least that gave me an interesting narrative to hold on to. But no, what I got was a bizarre BDSM scene which I suppose was for comic relief but only left me confused and disoriented, and a flashback within a flashback which was a bit silly and dampened the seriousness of the situation.

My second (and ultimately) biggest problem with this film is the presentation. I really dislike when a movie incorporates a niche or interesting setting/element, only for it to play little to no role in the plot. From the title, to the villain character, to even the opening credits montage, you would think that this is an action-packed intriguing story set in the complex power-driven world of the Nigerian Army. But no, it’s a glorified drama that attempts to incorporate investigative elements and brushes aside the main connections to its main niche. Bayo’s army criminal record is treated as such a bombshell when revealed, but the only exposition we’re given about the details surrounding it is a flashback that lasted less than 10 minutes. The setting could’ve easily been replaced with the police force, crime and the underworld, or even a civilian white-collar organization, and there wouldn’t even be a single difference in the plot.

What makes this particularly upsetting is that a more meaningful story could’ve been told. The film touches on certain plot points that if properly explored/expanded could’ve easily given us a much more interesting narrative; the corruption and abuse of power in the military. The General’s ego and subsequent violation of Sade, his numerous attempts to ruin Bayo’s life, Alhaja’s role and willingness to practically sell her daughter against the latter’s wishes, Bayo and Sade’s forbidden love and Bayo coming to terms with the truth about his daughter and the utter hell Sade has been through, and his growth into the hero who takes her away to a better life. I wish these elements were the main focus of the film and not just tossed aside as half-assed flashbacks.

Final Thoughts

This movie isn’t all that bad. Bayo and Sade’s story was still equally beautiful and heartbreaking to watch, especially with all the love and bliss we were shown at the beginning. The rest of the film just felt incredibly lackluster, especially when it was packaged as a deeper tale.

I rate Unknown Soja (2025): 2.5 out of 5.

Our Rating of This Movie

Have you seen the movie? What were your thoughts on Bayo’s actions? Comment down below!

Author

Winifred Eze

Winnie is a business student by day and a writer by night, with a passion for movies and the art of storytelling. Whether it’s dissecting a film’s themes, exploring character arcs, or celebrating cinematic masterpieces, she loves diving deep into the magic of the big screen. She also strives to bring fresh perspectives and engaging discussions to fellow writers and readers.