How I buried my first child in coke crate - Ibrahim Chatta
Actor Ibrahim Chatta has recounted the painful experience of losing his first child due to financial constraints.
The 53-year-old made the revelation in a video shared on YouTube by Abiola Orisile Events & Parties. According to him, the child, a baby girl, died at a hospital in Lagos after he was unable to pay for her treatment.
“Malik is not my firstborn. My first child was a baby girl. I lost her because I couldn’t pay hospital bills,” he said.
The 54-year-old narrated how he desperately trekked from Ijora Badia to Makoko in search of financial help, but returned to find his daughter had died.
“She was taken to the hospital in the Iddo area of Lagos State. I trekked from Ijora Badia to Makoko places where I used to hawk puff‑puff yet I couldn’t get any money until she died. My first child was buried in the old wooden crate of Coke,” he said.
Ibrahim said he rarely speaks about the incident and only recently opened up to his family after a misunderstanding over his show of affection towards his daughter Hawawu.
“The day I went to Dubai and bought a diamond anklet for the only daughter I have now, Hawawu, her mum got upset and said I didn’t buy anything for her. I told her I once had a daughter and narrated how she died. They all started crying because they had never heard the story from me before,” he said.
Born on October 14, 1970, Ibrahim Chatta is one of the most prominent actors in the Yoruba movie industry. The Kwara-born actor rose to fame through stage plays before transitioning to mainstream Yoruba cinema. He is known for films such as Adebimpe Omo Oba, Olokiki Oru and Osoronga.
Ibrahim has been married three times. His first marriage was to actress Olayinka Solomon and together they had a son, Malik, born in 2008. They later divorced amidst allegations of domestic violence, which Chatta denied.
He later married Salamatu Lafiaji, daughter of a former Kwara State governor. That marriage also ended in divorce.
His current wife is actress and producer Olaide Aishat, popularly known as Lizzy Berry and they have two children together.
