Donations collected within 48 hours will clear rent arrears, WAEC fees, and outstanding school bills for three children.
The family of late Nollywood actor John Okafor, known as Mr. Ibu, received ₦7.5m in public donations to settle rent and school fees on Friday.
The family of late Nollywood actor John Okafor, known as Mr. Ibu, received ₦7.5m in public donations to settle rent and school fees on Friday.
Seven and a half million naira arrived for the family of late Nollywood actor John Okafor, Mr. Ibu, on Friday, raised entirely from public donations to cover rent, school fees, and examination costs his widow could no longer afford.
Content creator Mitchel Ihueze, known as King Mitchy, disclosed the total on her Instagram page on June 26, 2026. But the money only came after she posted a video two days earlier that showed Stella Maris and the children in their darkened home, pleading openly for help.
“Together, we were able to raise ₦7.5 million for the family,” King Mitchy wrote on Instagram. “God bless every single one of you.” The funds will go directly toward school fees, outstanding rent on the family’s home in Lagos, and the eldest daughter’s WAEC registration costs.
Three of Okafor’s children had already stopped attending school before donations came in. His 14-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 12 and 10, were all home when King Mitchy visited. Their mother confirmed the school had contacted her about unpaid balances before that Wednesday.
Stella Maris told King Mitchy in the Wednesday video, the one that broke the story open, that electricity had been cut off for roughly two months. “We fetch water from the well because I have not paid the house rent,” she said in the clip. “They have even cut my lights for two months now. Every night we go to look for a place to charge our phones. It’s not easy.”
One of Okafor’s daughters spoke directly to her father’s former colleagues during the same visit. “I want to thank God for my mom. She tries everything she can to feed us and pay our school fees to make us happy,” she stated. And then she looked into the camera and added, “Nigerians who were in the industry with my dad, you’re seeing us now; come and meet us.”
By Thursday, June 25, fans and well-wishers had flooded social media with disbelief that the family of one of Nollywood’s most recognized performers had reached such a point. Several voices called on the Actors Guild of Nigeria to step in formally. Yet by press time Friday, no public statement from the Guild on the family’s welfare had appeared.
Guild national president Emeka Rollas had confirmed Okafor’s death by cardiac arrest in a March 2024 Instagram post, making the silence from the organization more conspicuous as the fundraising story spread through the week. No welfare response was publicly announced.
John Ikechukwu Okafor died on March 2, 2024, at Evercare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos State. He was 62. Before his death, he had undergone a leg amputation in November 2023 following an illness that required seven surgeries across several months.
His nearly three-decade career in Nollywood spanned more than 200 films. His slapstick comedy roles built him an audience across West Africa and in the Nigerian diaspora. But the man who made millions laugh died leaving his family unable to keep the lights on.
The fundraising episode has restarted an older conversation about what Nollywood owes its veterans and their dependents. Earlier in 2026, actor Abiodun Ayoyinka, the man behind the Papa Ajasco character, also appealed publicly for financial support after falling into hardship, a parallel observers noted immediately when the Okafor story broke Wednesday.
No formal welfare policy for dependants of deceased Actors Guild members have ever been publicly announced. King Mitchy confirmed Friday that every naira of the ₦7.5 million would be deployed immediately for school fees, WAEC registration, and rent clearance, with nothing earmarked for any other purpose.
