A Nigerian actor, Mr. Ibu, whose real name is John Okafor, has died in Lagos at the age of 62.
According to local media reports, the veteran actor died on Saturday at Evercare Hospital in Lagos.
The Nollywood actor had been ill since October 2023 and the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, confirmed his death.
The actor had suffered health challenges that led to amputation of his leg last year.
It would be recalled that in 2019, Mr Ibu alleged that his kinsmen paid some of his domestic workers to poison him because of his successful career.
And in an interview with Vanguard Newspaper, Okafor said that he was already “seeing people on the other side” but God brought him back to life.
He said, “My illness was actually perpetrated by people that hate me. They did what they did to me. Later, I was taken to the hospital. The doctors are prophets. So, they went into my system and they told me what was wrong and what they are going to do. I said ‘Whatever you are going to do, please, do it, let me live because if I die like this the enemies will laugh’. And then the doctors said ‘Okay, there’s no problem’.
“At the time, I didn’t know what happened. I left! So, whatever I was saying they recorded it. I was saying something like somebody who is going mad. I wasn’t actually seeing anybody. But on the other side where I was at that time, I was seeing some dead people. God brought me back.”
Many Nigerian fans of the actor have posted their condolences on X, reminiscing movies Ibu featured in.
The death of Mr. Ibu comes less than 24 hours after the demise of Quadri Oyebamiji popularly known as Sisi Quadri, another Nollywood Actor, was announced.
GIK/APA
Nigerians mourn death of popular actor Mr. Ibu
