The father of Josephine Otabor, better known as Phyna, the winner of Big Brother Naija season 7, has alleged that she abandoned her family after winning the N100m grand prize.
In a recent interview with Vanguard, Mr. Felix Otabor disclosed that the last time he saw his daughter was when she was announced as the winner of the reality TV show in 2022.
According to him, Phyna disappeared and abandoned her family as soon as she received the prize money. He further claimed that he only sees her when she posts pictures on social media.
The 68-year-old man also alleged that his daughter asked him to stop working as a hearse driver and sell his vehicles. Unfortunately, after he sold his old cars, she didn’t provide any assistance, leaving him currently jobless.
His words,
“I haven’t seen Phyna, my daughter since she won BBNaija ‘Level Up’ edition last year. She hasn’t returned home since then. I don’t know why.
I am a professional hearse driver, and when she won the reality TV show, she asked me to do away with all my old cars, promising to change my life. But since then, I haven’t seen her. And I don’t have a car again. Once in a while, the Vice-Chairman of our association will allow me to drive his own car.
I sold all my four cars because at the time , my daughter won the show. I thought that God had finally answered our prayers. I called her on the telephone, and she said God has blessed us. She asked me to do away with all my old cars, or she would give them out to Aboki, any day she returned.
So, instead of allowing her to dash out my cars to scavengers, I decided to sell them as scraps and used the proceeds to renovate my house. And that was the beginning of my suffering. I stopped doing my business because I had no car again.
And my neighbours thought I was either stingy or pretending as if my daughter just won a N100 million grand prize. I was the Vice-Chairman of our association, but when I couldn’t show up at our station for some time, they replaced me with another person.
From that moment, things started getting tough for me. I am even looking for somebody who will give me a car on hire purchase. I need help; it has come to that point. I don’t want to die in silence.
I only see her on Facebook or Instagram whenever she shares new photos on these platforms.”
However, the reality star took to Instagram to narrate how she felt over the interview.
“In the history of dragging ….. this is the first time I cried and it touched me. Let’s meet later on Instagram live,”
she wrote.
In a follow-up post, she lashed out at Vanguard for incessantly calling and sending her text messages, seemingly in an attempt to get her side of the story.
She also threatened to sue the news outlet for publishing the report, alleging that her father was in distress.
The 26-year-old tweeted,
“I think it’s time for me to sue this useless Vanguard. They’ve been tormenting me with texts and calls.”
“I mistakenly picked one of the numbers 4 days back. Immediately I said hello, the useless man just said he is Ben Njoku from Vanguard, and the next thing this man started doing was asking me questions.”
“I just told him, ‘How can you come to me and start questioning me?’ Immediately, I then ended the call. He texted me immediately, saying that he is so sorry.”
“Now, you went back to your cupboard to say your father is crying, and your mother gave him a bastard son? Vanguard will crumble.”
“This is the number of the bastard that has been disturbing me from Vanguard. This particular cooking will choke you. You will hear from my lawyer.”
