Murphy Afolabi’s death, a rude shock to us, says family 

The family of late Nollywood Yoruba Actor, Murphy Afolabi in Osogbo, Osun, have said his death is saddening and heartbreaking to them.

The family head of Fetuata, Afolabi’s family compound in Osogbo Mr Yusuf Lateef, said on Monday that the news of the death of the actor left every one of them crying.

He said the information they got about Afolabi’s demise was that he collapsed in the bathroom.

He said he was rushed to the hospital thereafter, where he was pronounced dead.

He said his body was deposited at the morgue and that he would be buried later today.

“Initially we were planning to have him buried here, in Osogbo but his children insisted that he should be buried in Lagos, where he resides with his family.

“As his family in Osogbo, we have been meeting and making plans concerning his burial and we will be sending representatives to Lagos this morning (today),” he said.

He said the bond of family is very strong and that irrespective of the status anybody attained in life, they should never forsake their family, adding that as Afolabi’s family members, would see to the burial of their kin.

Alhaji Murufudeen Lawal, Osun Governor of Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), who was at the Afolabi’s family compound in Osun on a condolence visit, said the death of the actor was a big loss to the Yoruba film industry.

Lawal said the late actor had contributed immensely to the growth of the Yoruba movie sector and that the vacuum his death had created would be very difficult to fill.

He commiserated with the family, friends, and fans of the actor, asking them to take solace in the fact that life is ephemeral and that everything that happened in life is according to the will of God.

Afolabi, 49, a Yoruba movie actor, producer, and director, was reported to have collapsed and died in his bathroom in Ikorodu, Lagos on Sunday morning.