‎The Nigerian entertainment industry has been thrown into mourning following the death of Nollywood actor, Chijioke ‘Cjay’ Nwokafor.
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‎His colleague, actress Nkechi Blessing, announced his death on Instagram on Wednesday, sharing videos of herself with the late actor.
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‎Blessing did not disclose the cause of his death, but said she had cancelled the release of her movie, Egusi Ogbono, in his honour. Cjay featured in the film.
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‎The actress had initially scheduled the movie for release at 5pm on Wednesday, but withdrew it after a hospital confirmed the actor’s death.
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‎Blessing said she spoke with Cjay at about 8am on Wednesday, only to receive news of his death a few hours later.
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‎“Cjay Nwoke Oma, so this is really the end? Omo we had plans. I spoke to you at 8 a.m. today and a few hours later you are no more with us.
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‎“Omo please return if possible because I refuse to type otherwise, and this is too much for me to handle,” she wrote.
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‎Reacting to the news, actor Charles Born said he had planned to visit Cjay at the hospital.
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‎“Wait what? I was supposed to go see him at the clinic. Is this a joke?” he wrote.
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‎Another actor, Emeka Nwagbaraocha, also expressed disbelief over the actor’s death in a post on X.
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‎“Can’t believe CJ is dead mehn. We just texted a few days back! WTF is going on. CJ is such a sweet soul, talking about him in past sense is just,” he wrote.
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‎Cjay’s family and colleagues had yet to disclose further details about his death or announce funeral arrangements.
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‎Cjay, who began his acting career in 2021, featured in several Nollywood productions, including Larry Cold, Mum Overnight and A Day to My Wedding.
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‎He was an indigene of Anambra State.