Ojopagogo: How I lost my first wife while on Olaiya Igwe’s movie set

04 Jul 2025, 21:16 by Pelumi Bolawa · TheCable Lifestyle

Razaq Olayiwola, the ace actor better known as Ojopagogo, has opened up about the day he lost Funmilayo, his first wife, while filming a movie.

In a recent interview with Feelright News TV, the veteran actor revealed that tragedy struck during the production of ‘Osuwon,’ a film by fellow actor Ebun Oloyede (Olaiya Igwe).

Ojopagogo recounted how his wife, who had been in good health when he left home, suddenly passed away while he was on set.

“It is a long story. I left her at home, and she was fine. We went for a job in Abeokuta. We went for the shoot of ‘Osuwon’, Olaiya’s film,” he said.

“It is not something I like to remember. I lost someone who was like my backbone. It was my wife, the wife who gave birth to our children.

Ojopagogo and his late wife Funmilayo who died in 2000

“I was not supposed to go for that work. The reason is that my wife herself has been telling me to go for the shoot. At the time, we were also planning to make our movie ‘Ejo Ori Apata’. This rain started the night before the shoot.

“When the rain was so much, my wife went out to borrow an umbrella for me to be able to go out for the shoot. She told me Olaiya had never called us for the job, and now he has called me.”

Ojopagogo said that while on location, he sensed something was wrong. He said his family sent his brother to Abeokuta to break the news gently, but colleagues on set urged him to return home immediately.

The actor added that on his way back, he felt an eerie premonition.

“Till I got to the place, my body was not calm. I was not too playful at the outing,” he said.

“They said one of my brothers should come meet me at Abeokuta. They did not tell me until my brother came to Abeokuta. We did not even start the work the night I got to the location.

“Other people at the location told me to go home. As I was travelling down, because the plan I had with my wife was that she should go to Oyo town and buy some yam flour, I just felt a breeze inside the bus.”

The actor revealed that when he arrived, his children told him their mother wasn’t home.

According to him, in Oyo, his father and mourners awaited him with condolences, confirming his worst fears.

Ojopagogo is married to Moji Afolayan, the filmmaker

“When I got home, I asked my children where their mother was, and they said she was not around,” he said.

“When I got to Oyo, I saw my father outside, trying to console me. As soon as I entered the house, many people gathered around me to express their condolences.

“I told them that nothing was wrong with her. Until I left that house and went to the park, and then returned to Ibadan, I was still in shock and dismay when I travelled to Ibadan from Oyo and returned to Ibadan.”

Ojopagogo started acting in 1983. He is married to Moji Afolayan, the filmmaker.

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