Mr Ibu’s Family in Financial Dispute Over Help Requests

The family of late Nollywood actor, John Okafor, known as Mr Ibu, is now in the spotlight after a video interview with his wife, StellaMaris Okafor, and three of their children went viral online.

The interview was done by social media personality, King Mitchy, and shared on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. In the video, StellaMaris asked for support, explaining the family’s money problems since the actor's passing.

She revealed that they have not had electricity for two months because they were cut off for not paying bills. Now, they depend on well water for daily needs.

Her daughter, Chelsea, expressed her gratitude by saying, “I want to thank God for my mum. She tries everything she can to feed us, pay our school fees and make us happy.”

The interview sparked mixed reactions online, with some people claiming to be part of Mr Ibu’s family speaking out.

Comic actor, Fred Ebere, known as Tenkobo, shared a video on Instagram. In it, he played an audio recording from Valentine Okafor, who said he is Mr Ibu’s first son.

Tenkobo responded to StellaMaris’ plea, saying he is not against asking for public help. But he disagreed with the idea that the late actor left nothing behind.

“I’m not angry that you came out to solicit help. But presenting it as if the man did not leave anything behind, did not plan his life well or did not invest is what I disagree with,” he said.

He claimed that Mr Ibu had invested in properties during his life and questioned what happened to those assets. He also said family issues among Mr Ibu’s relatives made it harder to manage his estate.

Another video appeared online, this time from Somtochukwu Okafor, who also claimed to be one of Mr Ibu’s sons.

In the video, Somtochukwu accused StellaMaris of selling several of Mr Ibu’s properties after his death. He said she did not share the money with some of his children and ignored his requests for financial help, including for his WAEC fees.

He said, “My father’s property in Lagos was sold for N60m, and she did not reach out to any of his children. When I contacted her to ask for money for my WAEC, she said she didn’t have any. She didn’t reply some of my messages and did not pick my calls.”

He added, “The house in Enugu was sold for about N17m. She later sent me only N14,000, saying she was just ‘dashing’ me the money. It was later I discovered that the property was sold for N17m. My father also had a property in Asaba, which she sold for N11m without giving me anything.”

Somtochukwu also mentioned that there was N60m in the bank and around N66m donated by Nigerians during Mr Ibu’s illness. He believes none of it was shared with the family.

In a follow-up post on Friday, Mitchy said that N7.5m had been raised from kind Nigerians and sent to StellaMaris. In response to Somtochukwu's claims, StellaMaris said three people were involved in selling her late husband’s properties. She also mentioned that the property in Enugu sold for N17m helped pay for the actor’s burial expenses.

This is not the first time StellaMaris has faced issues over money matters. In 2023, during Mr Ibu’s long illness, there was a disagreement about donations for his treatment. This involved StellaMaris and the actor’s adopted daughter, Jasmine, after Mr Ibu asked for financial help for surgeries.

Jasmine accused StellaMaris of trying to use the donations for her own needs, but StellaMaris denied this, saying she had no access to the donation account.