Veteran Nigerian Actor, John Okafor, popularly known as Mr. Ibu has died.
Mr. Ibu died at the Evercare hospital in Lagos on Saturday, March 2 at age 62 after a long illness. His manager says he suffered a cardiac arrest on Saturday while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Lagos State, Nigeria.
According to family sources the actor had been on life support after he underwent a second surgery for his ailment recently. Ibu starred in over 300 movies.
The legendary actor has been battling health issues in October 2023, and undergone multiple surgeries that led to the amputation of his leg but received treatment and was discharged from hospital in early January this year. In October 2023, he came out publicly to seek financial assistance to treat his ailment.
Mr Ibu until his death was an indigene of Nkanu West Lagos of Enugu State. He is survived by wife and three children.
In an interview with Nigerian Vanguard Newspaper in May 2022, the comic actor disclosed that he was already “seeing people on the other side” but God brought him back to life.
“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’, Ibu told the Vanguard Newspaper.
“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.”
According to him, his enemies were happy about his illness and thought he wouldn’t make it but God brought him back to life.
The actor said his sickness taught him a “big lesson”, adding that he is surprised that he is still alive.