Nollywood celebrity John Okafor, popularly known as Mr Ibu, has gotten his fair share of marital troubles as his second wife, Stella Maris, has accused him of, among other things, having an affair with his adopted daughter, Jasmine.
In a video circulating on social media, Ms Stella lamented how she’s been catering for their children all by herself despite the domestic abuse from the actor.
She claimed that Jasmine is taking advantage of her husband’s memory loss issue and using him for fame despite having a child of her own.
Her recording in their residence shows her crying, accusing the comedic actor of beating her and trying to kill her.
She also accused him of neglecting their kids, saying that they have not been eating and the compound and her car are in disrepair.
She also made a video of the interior of the house flooded.
In a post on social media, she accused Jasmine of being an impostor who changed her real name, Chioma Florence Okekeagukwu, to Jasmine Okafor because of her desperation for fame.
She further added that her husband is having memory issues and cannot remember a lot.
Mr Ibu reacts
Reacting to her allegations, Mr Ibu, who was in an Instagram Live session with the broadcaster, Daddy Freeze, described them as false.
The actor said that they no longer live together because whenever they try to straighten out their issues, it ends in bickering.
“There has been so much misunderstanding between us, just because she doesn’t want to understand the kind of person I am and my kind of life,” he said.
According to him, when he was ill, he was alone in the hospital for over a month in Abuja and about two weeks in Lagos.
He said that it was his adopted daughter, who was then based in Cyprus, who came back to Nigeria to care for him and even paid some of his bills.
According to him, even though he has not been working, he sent her N1 million for the children’s school fees, but she has already converted the money for other uses.
“One of the cars, I just fixed it. I bought five cars for her, and she sold them all and didn’t remit any money.
“She has never asked me for anything that has to do with money, and I refused. If I don’t have it, I borrow it and make sure I give her the money. She calls my sister her daughter also during the time,” he said.
True to his claims, Mr Ibu has been visibly absent from the Nigerian movie industry, which may have been ascribed to his vocal stand on issues.
The actor once said that gay men had taken over the industry. In March 2022, he told PREMIUM TIMES that his relatives and colleagues poisoned him.
He was also one of the first actors to publicly endorse the candidacy of the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu. In November 2021, Mr Ibu, alongside his colleagues like Foluke Daramola, Harry Anyanwu, and Benedict Johnson, drummed support for Mr Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
He later made a volte-face after receiving backlash on social media.
Adopted daughter
Mr Ibu’s adopted daughter, Jasmine, who also joined the live session, corroborated his claims, noting that on one of the nights Mr Ibu spent in the hospital, his wife went partying.
She said that Ms Okafor neither knows the drugs he takes to stay alive nor does she see the diet he has been placed on.
She claimed that the whole saga is taking place because of money.
“This whole thing was about money. Daddy sold a plot of land that he was supposed to sell for N4m for N2.5m because she was putting pressure on him.
“He wanted to send you N700,000; I pleaded with him to send you N1m. You know this man is not working, you are constantly calling him, asking him for money. You don’t work. You have three children. You don’t work. This man is not working, but he is feeding young people and paying school fees. You want to kill this man. Accept it. And I’m not playing. The AGN president knows about this. Call the AGN president. He knows about this. All his colleagues know about this,” she said.
On the issue of his memory issues, Jasmine said that the doctors conducted a scan and confirmed that his brain is okay.
“Even as we speak, we plan to do a TV series, and she is aware. She said that whatever I am doing, as far as I am pushing daddy, I should be pushing her,” she said.
She also said that the video was planned and that Ms Okafor shed crocodile tears.
Two of Mr Ibu’s sons, Val and Daniel, supported her claims.
Mr and Mrs Ibu
Mr Ibu married his wife Stella traditionally on the 25th of May 2010 at the bride’s hometown in Imo State. Five years later, in 2015, they held their white wedding ceremony.
In the past, the actor had talked about her glowingly. He once said that he had the best wife in the whole world and that she had the key to his heart.
Before meeting her, he was in a marriage, which he admits gave him bad memories, causing him to stay off relationships for six years.
Mr Ibu has 14 children from both marriages.
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