Tears flowed in Ilaro, Ogun State, on Monday as the remains of veteran Nollywood actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, were laid to rest according to Islamic rites.
The 66-year-old actor was buried around 10:50am after funeral prayers attended by family members, friends, colleagues, traditional chiefs and other mourners.
Ogogo’s remains arrived in Ilaro early Monday morning ahead of the burial, drawing several prominent Yoruba movie actors, including Yinka Quadri and Jide Kosoko.
By 9am, family members and close friends had gathered for the funeral rites. Around 10am, actress Ireti Osayemi Bakare joined other actors and actresses at Ilaro Central Mosque for the prayers.
The mood was emotional as mourners struggled to accept the death of the veteran, who was a major figure in Yoruba-language cinema for decades.
After the prayers, his remains were taken to the burial ground, where traditional chiefs, family members, friends and colleagues followed the body to the grave before he was buried according to Islamic rites.
The burial came a day after reports confirmed that Ogogo had died following a battle with stage four cancer. His health had reportedly worsened in recent weeks.
A video showed one of his daughters crying and saying, “I need to call my sisters. I need to call my family,” as she struggled to accept her father’s death.
Days before his death, the family and management disclosed his condition and appealed for urgent medical help, stressing that they needed access to proper treatment rather than financial donations.
His daughter said the family only discovered the seriousness of his condition about three weeks earlier and had struggled to find suitable medical care.
More than 500 people later offered to help. Jide Kosoko said the offers created logistical problems because Ogogo was already receiving treatment in a hospital, making it difficult to decide where and how he could be safely moved.
