Since 2017, Halima Abubakar has not only been in the news for battling a brain tumour, but she has also been the subject of various controversies, including run-ins with LIRS, Apostle Joshua Suleman, and her colleagues like Iyabo Ojo and Tonto Dikeh. Halima is finally clearing the air.
For some years, social media has been awash with news about you having a strange ailment. What exactly happened?
I have been battling it for six years. In the last six years, I have been in and out of the hospital, hiding behind a mask and looking for solutions to my problems. I was bleeding and couldn’t sleep. People saw me once in a while and they were wondering why I wasn’t acting and never attended shows or premieres to support them. I was going through storms privately. I have been battling a brain tumour, heart-related ailments, blood pressure issues, attacks, smear campaigns, and all sorts. It is by the grace of God that I’m still standing.
What’s your current health status?
Brain tumour, insomnia, and anxiety. I still need financial support for brain tumour surgery. 
How have you been coping since you’ve not been working for almost six years?
It hasn’t been easy. I’ve practically been begging people and some of my kind co-celebrities for help. Some have been helpful, while others simply ignored me. I pray for God’s blessings for those who cared for me. A few did.
ALSO READ: Halima Abubakar Has Been Sick Since 2017—What Went Wrong?
Recently, the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) lifted the ban placed on you last year. What went wrong and how was it resolved?
It was witch-hunting. I wasn’t interviewed or investigated. This was after the then-president, Emeka Rollas, told me to write an in-depth explanation about my grievances with a popular pastor. I wrote a nine-page letter to him, explaining my predicament and everything that transpired, but he backtracked and suspended me. I spoke to no one, yet he accused me of a sin that I didn’t commit. My kindness was used against me. They (AGN) didn’t check up on me. He didn’t even try to send people to investigate my story. They just turned their backs on me. No one called—even the ones I brought into Nollywood or helped. I died and came back to life.
But you’re an active member of AGN
I said everyone abandoned me. One of them, who was close to me, even called me a beggar and a liar, even though she knew I had been ill. The other one never loved me and didn’t call as well. I got tired of calling.
You had a good relationship with colleagues like Tonto Dikeh and Iyabo Ojo until recently. What went wrong?
Nollywood is filled with people who have bad intentions and jealousy; they gossip just to bring you down.
In one of your posts on social media, you complained about being harassed by men of the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) regarding tax. What exactly happened?
I was terribly sick to a point that I couldn’t even talk, yet they were forcing me to pay 23 million naira as tax when I was out of Nollywood. We sent hospital records, pictures, etc., but they kept pestering me. I haven’t been working. How can you impose a tax on a sick person? They kept increasing the amount and I was dumbfounded. I have not done any job in the past six years.
You haven’t worked in about six years and have relocated from Lagos, so why do you think the LIRS is insisting you pay tax?
I was even in my village receiving treatments when they started sending the emails. I moved to my village at a point when I was sick. I asked a few colleagues if they received similar emails; their response was “no.” I was the only person who was receiving the emails. I don’t know if someone is behind it to torment me. I’m not in Lagos or working, so why me? At the same time, everything else was wrong in my life… I leave everything in the hands of Almighty Allah.
When do you intend to return to filmmaking?
That requires huge capital, which I can’t afford at the moment unless I find sponsors. What matters right now is to get my life back. I’m a productive person naturally. The enemies failed with the heavy smear campaign against my name. But Allah said I should forgive them.
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