More than 100 prominent Nollywood actors gathered on Friday at the BOS Hall (Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu Hall), LTV 8, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, to offer prayers for their ailing colleague, Taiwo “Ogogo” Hassan. The prayer session was convened to support the veteran actor, who is battling stage-four cancer and currently receiving treatment in a hospital.
Prayer Session Details and Attendees
The gathering, which was still ongoing as of the time of filing this report, drew key figures from the Yoruba film industry. Those present included the National President of the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), Bolaji “Mr Latin” Amusan, as well as Jide Kosoko, Yinka Quadri, Fausat Balogun, Antar Laniyan, Bukky Wright, and Yomi Fash-Lanso. Other notable attendees were Hassanat Akinwande, Lateef Adedimeji, Toyosi Adesanya, and Yemi Ayebo, alongside several other prominent figures in the Yoruba film industry.
Islamic clerics leading the session urged attendees to pray for Ogogo’s recovery and presented their requests during the prayer. One cleric prayed for healing to reach Ogogo wherever he is receiving treatment and for him to recover from the illness.
Background and Appeal for Medical Assistance
The prayer session came days after Ogogo’s colleagues appealed to people who had offered to treat him through traditional and other means not to take offence over their inability to move him from his current hospital. According to his colleagues, the actor could not be moved from the hospital despite receiving hundreds of offers of medical assistance.
Earlier reports indicated that Ogogo’s daughters, Kira and Haleemah, had appealed to Nigerians to help explore further medical options, including traditional treatment, following an alleged refusal by the hospital to treat him. The actors rallied around Ogogo after his daughters revealed that he was battling stage-four cancer and could not travel abroad to seek treatment.
Call for Specialised Care and Family’s Plea
The actors appealed to Nigerians to help the family identify medical specialists and hospitals with the expertise and facilities needed to treat the actor. They stressed that the family was not seeking financial assistance. According to the actors, Ogogo required specialised medical care, and they urged anyone with information about a qualified specialist or suitable healthcare facility to contact his family.
His daughters also expressed fears about losing their father, saying they were desperate to secure the appropriate treatment for him as quickly as possible. They disclosed that doctors diagnosed Ogogo with cancer about three weeks earlier and said the actor remained determined to survive. The daughters added that he had repeatedly expressed his desire to live.
