The family of veteran Nollywood actor, John Okafor also known as Mr Ibu have revealed that the delay to fly out the ailing actor is as a result of inability of the doctors to certify him fit to fly.
The family in a statement on Sunday said the airlines have refused to accept arrangements to fly him because doctor say he’s not fit .
The statement added that Mr Ibu is recuperating at the hospital, stating that his cause of illness was not diabetes but persistent blood clotting from his legs.
The statement reads in parts: “We wish to express our sincere gratitude to well-meaning Nigerians and the general public for your immense contributions, physically, spiritually, and most above all financially on getting our daddy Mr John Okafor (Mr Ibu) back on his feet again.
“We wish to correct some misconceptions making rounds on social media concerning the current state of our father’s health. First, we would like to state that our daddy wasn’t amputated on both legs but only one. The first amputation didn’t completely correct his health predicament so the doctors had to go ahead to amputate the same leg further to ensure we didn’t lose him.
“Daddy’s cause of sickness is also not diabetes but he’s had constant clotting of the blood in his leg ( diseased blood vessels) and other health challenges posing risk to his life, therefore the need for the amputation.
“Lastly, the only reason why the family has not flown him out of the country to date is cause the doctors have tagged him “Not Fit to Fly”. This tag has made it extremely impossible to get him out of the country for advanced treatment as no airline will fly him. Daddy is currently admitted at one of the biggest and best hospitals we’ve got in Nigeria as of today and the hospital has availed him a pool of very astute professionals.
“Our Daddy is recuperating we urge his friends, colleagues, fans, and Nigerians at large to keep him in their prayers and peddle down on unconfirmed reports concerning our dad’s health. Thank you Nigerians you all have been very supportive this period. God bless you all.”
Earlier, the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, told reporters that the ailing actor is struggling to speak.
Since March 2022, when the actor was admitted to Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre in Abuja, he has undergone several surgeries.
