Following a long battle with blood clotting on his legs, veteran actor, John Okafor aka Mr. Ibu has died. The actor passed away in a hospital in Lagos state on Saturday, March 2. He was 62 years old.
Family sources said, the actor has been on life support after he underwent a second surgery for his ailment recently. The family source said that his blood pressure has been over 200 after he had the surgery and that efforts were being made to stabilize it before he sadly passed away on Saturday evening.
Mr. Ibu battled with constant clotting of blood on his leg (diseased blood vessels) and other health challenges for years. In October 2023, he came out publicly to seek financial assistance to treat his ailment. There were plans to fly him abroad for further medical care but that plan was aborted by his doctors who believed he wasn’t fit to fly.
During the cause of his treatment, his leg was amputated in November 2023.
The veteran actor was very famous for his sterling interpretation of humorous roles in movies.
In the months that preceded his death, Mr. Ibu faced daunting challenges, health-wise and personally.
His film career stalled, and on the home front, it wasn’t any better—in February 2023, he told The Punch that his fifth marriage to Stella Marris, whom he married in 2015, was the worst.
The actor is survived by his wife and children.