Veteran Nollywood actor and producer, Obi Madubuogwu, has died from complications related to diabetes.

Most popular for his role as King Musanga in the 1996 epic, Battle of Musanga, by Gabosky and Chezkay Films, the Anambra-born artiste died on Monday.

His death was announced by veteran producer, Chidi Nwokeabia, who wrote in a WhatsApp post, “Obi is dead. We just spoke to the wife. He developed fever yesterday, went to the hospital this morning, had complications and died. The family will be taking the corpse home tomorrow.”

Newly elected president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas also confirmed the news of his death to Vanguard, saying “It’s sad that after receiving Obi’s congratulatory message on the telephone, he didn’t live to see me face to face and thereafter meet the reforms we are about bringing to AGN with this new excos.

“Obi was part of this dream to see that I become the President of the guild. Last year, I chaired the event organized by his Saving Life for Africa Diabetes Foundation. We talked about how I would use AGN to help drive his foundation if I become president of the guild.

“This is another sad day for Nollywood. May his soul rest in peace.”

A member of the National Troupe of Nigeria, Shaibu Husseini, however, accuses the actor’s colleagues of abandoning him.

“They will eulogise Obi Madubuogwu to high heavens. Meanwhile, the humane actor and director needed help and he revealed before he died that some of them DESERTED him and would not pick or return his calls,” Husseini, who is also a film critic and member of the Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) jury, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.

Madubuogwu first became aware that he had a health issue in 1998 when he began losing weight.

His condition became so bad that friends and colleagues deserted him, especially after a newspaper reported that he had AIDS.

He established the Saving Lives African Diabetes Foundation in 2009 to raise awareness for diabetes and attend to his deteriorating condition.

He released a statement from his sick bed at the Federal Medical Centre, Lagos accompanied by a picture of his decaying leg in February 2017.

His hope of travelling abroad for surgery was unfulfilled until he died on Monday.