October 23, (THEWILL) – The Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, has addressed a claim by Stella Maris that they have not been supportive to her husband, Nollywood comic actor, John Okafor, aka Mr Ibu, who is currently battling with an undisclosed illness.
On Wednesday, the ace actor took to Instagram to plead for financial assistance.
The Ibu’s plight has prompted calls on social media for the guild to assist one of its own.
Reacting to the calls, the guild said they have been supporting the ace actor financially before his health issue was made public.
But in a now-viral video, Stella argued that the guild had lied about their support for the ailing actor.
“I am not happy at all, 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?”
But the guild, reacting to Stella’s denial of their support, insisted that the guild has been supportive of Ibu.
Kate Henshaw, the director of communications for AGN urged Jasmine, the actor’s adopted daughter, to share the gratitude message Ibu sent to Rollas, the AGN president, on June 9, 2022.
“Let me state categorically and vehemently that AGN has been of help to Mr Ibu. I do understand that she is at her wit’s end; anybody would be, but to say AGN lied, it is not true.
“I also want to ask Jasmine, his daughter to please reveal the content of the message sent to and the voice note sent to the president, Mr Emeka Rollas on the 9th of June, 2022 profusely thanking him for stepping in for the family at that time of need.
“In a case where someone has a recurring malaise, it is left for you to try and sort yourself out, the guild can only do so much.”
Meanwhile, former senate president, Bukola Saraki, said he has paid the entire medical bills of Mr Ibu via his Abubakar Bukola Saraki foundation.
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