A woman claiming to be the first wife of late actor John ‘Mr Ibu’ Okafor has levelled accusations of financial recklessness and family betrayal against Stella Okafor, the actor’s widow.
The clash erupted after Stella confirmed she had received N7.5 million in public donations, following a tearful interview in which she spoke of the family’s difficulties with unpaid power bills and pending school fees.
In a widely circulated video, the woman disputed Stella’s claim to being the actor’s principal heir, insisting that Stella was actually his fifth wife.
She alleged that Stella had disposed of the late actor’s assets — among them, a piece of land in Enugu said to be worth N18 million, plus a Lagos property — without consulting the rest of the family.
She went on to claim that Stella had been behind the detention of two relatives — her own son and a woman named Jasmine — while Mr Ibu lay sick, supposedly over suspicions they were hoarding donated funds.
The woman further alleged that Stella had pocketed money realised from the actor’s burial, and routinely presents only her own children as his sole heirs, sidelining children he had from earlier relationships.
In her own words:
“Nigerians, I just want to greet everyone of you that wants to listen to what I am about to say about Stella Maris. Stella, you are the fifth wife of our husband while I am the first wife of the late Mr Ibu. When our husband was on the sick bed, you arrested my son and Jasmine, the people who were taking care of our husband.”
“You made sure you arrested them because of the money that Nigerians donated. Later you released them and then our late husband died yet Stella you never stopped there, you are still after the money. You sold the land in Enugu for about N18 million if I am not mistaken. That is one is apart, you did not tell anybody, you and your children shared it.
“Stella bear it in that your children are the last children my husband had because you are the fifth wife. Stella after that you sold the house in Lagos, the same house that you claim that water used to enter and you cannot live there that made the police to ask my son to rent another duplex for you, which my son did.
“After the burial of our husband, Stella, you and your gang took away all the whole money. They buried our husband yesterday, you left the village the next day. You went on a cruise with the money all of us have, only you took it and went away and you think that karma would not come after you?”
She cautioned Stella that her present troubles were merely “the breeze of karma,” calling on the public to halt donations and urging Stella to let the late actor “rest in peace.”
“My dear, the one you are seeing now is just the breeze of karma, you have not yet seen real karma. I assure you karma is real and it is coming after you. All these ones that you are going on social media, begging for money is none of our business because I know that come rain, come sun, you must give the account of what you did because karma is real.
“If you like, you and your children should turn to beggars, going on social media to beg all the whole Nigeria to help you. Even if they donate a lot of money for you, tomorrow you will surely come back to social media to beg again, I know you. You are never satisfied, you can think you are wise.
“The man who made you what you are today, the man who made people to know you, yet you do not want to give him peace even as he has already died and is in the grave you pursued him into. You keep on going to social media, begging people around, that is how you used to do.
“You have already turned yourself into a beggar, keep on begging but I am assuring you something today, Stella the one you are seeing is just the breeze of karma. The real karma will come and when it catches up with you, you would know that there is God.
“Keep on begging but all I am telling all Nigerians to beg you Stella is to allow Mr Ibu John Ikechukwu Okafor to rest in peace where he is lying down in his home. Let him be, you have finally finished him, what else do you want?
“You have sold all the whole properties, what else again do you want? After selling everything? Every time you present your children as the only Mr Ibu’s children, what about Amara, Valentine, Onyebuchi? The twins in Port Harcourt? The ones in Ghana? Are they not my husband’s children?
“And you are claiming every time that your children are Mr Ibu’s only children. You are only fooling yourself, you cannot fool everyone. Turn yourself to a beggar, keep on begging on social media, that is what you know.
“Let them keep on dashing you money as the beggar that you are. Stupid woman, are you not ashamed of yourself? You keep on fooling the whole family, begging, claiming that your husband did not leave anything for you.”
Since Stella’s plea for help, the family rift has deepened. Somtochukwu Okafor, the late actor’s third son, has claimed she offloaded several of Mr Ibu’s properties after his passing.
Actor Tenkobo equally took aim at the widow, charging her with exploiting her late husband’s name to drum up sympathy and contributions.