The widow of late comic actor John ‘Mr Ibu’ Okafor, Stella Okafor, fired back at her critics, maintaining that the sale of her husband’s Enugu properties was a joint family decision made to cover his burial costs.
Speaking in an interview with content creator King Mitchy, Stella said she, together with Valentine and Daniel Okafor, two of Mr Ibu’s sons, collectively sold his land in Enugu for N17 million.
“Before they sold the land, we were still in the village, and they (the children and family) were arguing with me over the money they gave me during the burial. They insisted that I must share the money with them. I told them the money was for my children. The money was N500,000,” she said.
“That land that was sold in Enugu, three of us sold that land because of the burial. It was N17 million. Go and ask the children.”
“We (my husband’s sons sold his house). I am not the one who sold the house. We sold the house.”
Her response follows days of online criticism after she appealed for financial help.
Stella had earlier asked the public for support, disclosing that the family had gone without electricity for two months and that her children had been sent home from school over unpaid fees. Her appeal is said to have drawn more than N7 million in donations.
Somtochukwu Okafor, the actor’s third son, however, rejected his stepmother’s claims of hardship, alleging she had sold off several properties after Mr Ibu’s death.
Actor Tenkobo also criticised Stella, accusing her of cashing in on her late husband’s legacy to drum up donations.
The row deepened further when a woman claiming to be Mr Ibu’s first wife accused Stella of mismanaging family finances and engineering the arrest of two relatives while the actor was ill.
She further alleged that Stella had sold off the late actor’s properties without consulting other family members — including a piece of land in Enugu reportedly worth N18 million, and a house in Lagos.
Responding to the allegations, Stella said her husband never disclosed to her that he had children from a previous relationship before their marriage.
“My husband never told me that he was married before. Even the first son, I keep seeing him in the house. My husband never for one day told me that he was his son. Even in marriage with him, he impregnated a lady who gave birth to twins,” she added.