Stella Maris, wife of the veteran Nollywood actor John Okafor, popular known as Mr Ibu, has accused the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), of abandoning her husband during his health challenges.
WAKADAILY reported that Mr Ibu on Wednesday announced to his fans that he has been diagnosed with an illness that may cost him his leg.
The actor further asked the general public for financial aid for his treatment, a post which has generated mixed reactions from netizens who questioned why the Nollywood industry could not help its actors.
Responding to the queries, the Actors Guild through its Director of Communications, Kate Henshaw said that the association had rendered help to Okafor even before his condition became public knowledge.
The statement released on Friday read: “We are compelled to make this public statement in reaction to the vituperations of some netizens over the health of one of our respected and esteemed members, John Okafor, popularly known as Mr Ibu.
“We are not here to join issues with anybody, but we want to set the records straight over the public outcry that the guild and his colleagues have abandoned him at his point of need. The guild has never abandoned any of its members in need, especially with health interventions. We have been at the forefront of providing necessary support to Mr Ibu even before his health conditions were ever made public, and this has been done with the full knowledge of his family members,” she said in the video shared via AGN’s Instagram page.
However, Mr Ibu’s wife in a video on Saturday slammed the AGN for lying about helping her husband adding that she had tried several times to contact the Guild’s president, Emeka Rollas, but he never picked her calls.
“I’m not happy at all,” she said in the video “Look at the situation of things now and the AGN people are coming online to say they are supporting my husband from the beginning. Why would they come out to say they are supporting him when they are not? They have not done anything.
“I contacted Emeka Rollas, I sent him a message which he read and did not reply. The message is still there, I called him and he did not answer my calls. So why would they come out and be blabbing? To come and say what they did not do. What kind of thing is this?”
