Felix Otabor, father of Josephina Otabor, popularly known as Phyna, has narrated how his daughter allegedly turned her back on him after emerging the overall winner of the 2022 edition of BBNaija,
Otabor said his financial suffering would be over when Phyna won the N100 million, but instead, it worsened because his daughter disappeared.
Recall that Phyna won the BBNaija ‘Level Up’ 2022 grand prize of N100 million, which shot up her fame and riches.
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, Phyna’s father, claimed the day she was announced the winner of BBNaija season 7, in 2022 was the last time he saw her.
The 68-year-old also said Phyna had asked him to stop being a hearse driver but failed to help him when he stopped, leaving him jobless at the moment.
He said, “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 that 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.”
The 68-year-old ambulance car driver also added that Phyna doesn’t answer his calls again.
Asked why Phyna was snubbing the family, Otabor said he had no idea and did not know his daughter’s whereabouts.
“I only see her on Facebook or Instagram whenever she shares new photos on these platforms,” he added.
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.