On Thursday, January 25, the Nigerian Police took into custody the son and daughter of well-known Nigerian actor John Ikechukwu Okafor, often known as Mr. Ibu.
The arrest was related to an alleged theft of N55 million in donations given to the actor while he was ill, according to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCID) in Ikoyi, Lagos State. Oyeabuchi Daniel Okafor is charged with plotting with Jasmine Chioma Okekeagwu, Mr. Ibu’s adopted daughter.
According to a statement released by the FCID on Thursday, the actor’s wife, Stella Maris Chinyere Okafor, filed a petition with Diamond Waves Law, claiming that her husband’s two sons had plotted to swindle their father with the help of their adopted daughter, Jasmine. This petition led to the actor’s detention.
“On September 6, 2023, a petition was received from Diamond Waves Law on behalf of Stella Maris Chinyere Okafor. In the petition, it was claimed that Jasmine Chioma Okekeagwu and Onyeabuchi Daniel Okafor, both sons of Mr. John Ikechukwu Okafor (Alias Ibu), had conspired to defraud Mr. Ibu while he was ill.
“The investigation into the case revealed that Mr. Ibu started a public fund-raising campaign to help pay for his medical bills. He solicited donations from his admirers, members of the entertainment industry, and other kind-hearted people and deposited them into a bank account that he made public and designated for that purpose.
According to ASP Mayegun Aminat, a police spokesman, the two went back into Daniel Okafor’s phone and reinstalled the banking software, transferring N55 million from the donations intended to cover the actor’s medical expenses.
According to the police, the perpetrators had previously planned a fictitious marriage and registered for UK visas in order to escape the nation.
A total of fifty-five million naira were secretly transferred from Mr. Ibu’s fundraising account to Onyeabuchi Daniel Okafor’s personal account, according to forensic investigation.
Five million naira of the fifty million naira that the police were able to retrieve from the accused have already been spent by the two.
“Onyeabuchi Daniel Okafor and Jasmine Chioma Okekeagwu have been charged with conspiracy and stealing in Chief Magistrate Court 1, Yaba in Charge No. A/06/2024, based on the strength of the evidence.”
Since then, N15 million in bail has been given to both, along with two sureties. The case will now reopen on March 11, 2024.
For legal counsel, the case file has been sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the interim.
In order to complete their premeditated fraudulent plans, the police stated, “They thereafter re-installed the mobile banking applications of Mr. Ibu on the phone of Onyeabuchi Daniel Okafor and wiped off the banking applications originally installed on Mr. Ibu’s phone, thereby taking direct and full charge of the banking activities of Mr. Ibu in relation to the funds being donated by members of the public in support of his medicals.”
