John Okafor, popularly known as Mr Ibu has cut a
niche for himself in the movie industry, notably for
being a comedic actor, but in an interview with Punch,
he has revealed that despite his commitment to making
people to laugh, he has had cause to be unhappy,
even bitter, on some occasions.
According to Okafor, negligence on the part of Lagos
University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) had a role to play
in the 2011 death of his 2 year old son who had just
been released from kidnappers. He was so bitter that
he almost instituted a court action against the
management of the hospital.
Read his ordeal after the cut.
“The matter was actually between the Paediatric
Department of the hospital and me. It was in 2011. My
wife and our two-year-old son had been kidnapped.
After I paid the ransom demanded and they were
released by the kidnappers, I returned to Lagos from
Enugu.
“Then on January 18, 2011, my son fell ill. He was
diagnosed with inflammation of the liver. The hospital
suggested that he should be scanned. At the same
time, I was informed that I could take my son out of
the hospital to get the scan done elsewhere. But the
same people later declined, saying that everything had
to be done in the hospital because he was too weak to
be taken outside.
“After a while, I was told that there was no electricity
in the hospital. When I asked if there was no standby
generator, they said there was no fuel in it. I offered to
pay for fuel only to be told that the man that operated
the generator was not around. When I left the place
and got back later, the man still had not returned.
Then I was advised to write an application and to
submit to the admin department.”
After writing the application, Okafor found that there
was nobody to receive and treat it. While he was
waiting, he was told that his son’s condition required
blood transfusion. The actor did everything possible to
ensure that the ailing boy was given treatment at the
hospital, but his efforts were in vain. Finally, the little
boy gave up the ghost.
“That was how my son died. Later, one of the doctors
came to me and, without even sympathising with me,
asked if I could release my boy’s corpse to him so that
they could cut it open and use it to teach other
medical students. In that moment, I felt like
committing murder for the first time in my life.
“When I told my lawyer what happened at the hospital,
he was shocked. He said it was actionable. I told him
that I was ready to take the hospital management to
court and sue it for $100 million in damages because
my son’s death was caused by the carelessness of the
professionals whose duty was to save his life. But my
lawyer advised me to let go”.
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