Victor Olaotan, a veteran Nigerian actor who starred in Mnet’s flagship drama series – Tinsel, for about five years, has died. He was 69.
He celebrated his 69th birthday on February 17, 2021, in a Turkish hospital where he was receiving treatment for traumatic brain injury.
Olaotan battled traumatic brain injury for more than four years after a near-fatal accident along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway on his way from a film set in 2016.
The car crash forced him to halt his screen time in 2016.
Netng spoke with Peace Anyiam of Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) on Friday, but she said she could not confirm the report of Olaotan’s death.
However, his wife Julia, who has been on a fundraising drive for Olaotan’s medical care in a Turkish hospital, told Punch that the veteran actor died on Thursday night, August 26, 2021.
The actor began his career at the University of Ibadan where he joined the Ori Olokun Theatre group established by renowned Nigerian playwright late Prof Ola Rotimi. Olaotan joined the cast of Tinsel in 2008 and was well known for playing the lead role as ‘Fred Ade-Willams’ in the long-running drama.
He also starred in Towo Tomo, Lovestruck, Remember Me, and Three Wise Men.
In 2018, Femi Otedola footed his medical bill, but up till February 2021, his wife Julia was still leading a fundraising drive to fund his medical bills in Turkey where he was treating traumatic brain injury.
Although Nigeria does not have a national epidemiological database on traumatic brain injury yet, a report in the East and Central African Journal of Surgery said traumatic brain injury is a significant public health problem in Nigeria, with an incidence rate of 2,710 per 100,000 annually reported in an accident and emergency department (AED). The report said males accounted for 79.2% of the cases.
