Veteran actor Chika Okpala, popularly known as Chief Zebrudaya, and his screen wife Lizzy Evoeme, aka Ovuleria, have expressed grief over the death of their New Masquerade co-star Romanus Amuta who played the role of Natty.
In a recent tribute to the deceased, Zebrudaya said that Natty never missed showing up to play his role until the show ended due to lack of sponsorship.
He said: “Nobody is happy that death is snatching our colleagues away so early. Our prayer is that we stay longer and healthier here on earth so that we can keep contributing our own quotas to the well-being of the society. But when it comes to death, there’s absolutely nothing we can do than to pay tributes to the deceased.”
“Romanus Amuta tried his best in the past 25 years to produce a programme every week. He never missed his own role until such a time when we didn’t have sponsorship again to sustain the programme on air. What we can do now is for us to send condolence messages to his family and pray for the repose of his soul in heaven.”
Reacting in the same manner, Ovuleria, who was once rumoured dead, lamented the death of people close to her.
“I feel sad that people are going home just like that, especially when it involves people you know very well; people who lived, worked and played with you. It’s sad but what can we do, it’s the way of life, you live today and die tomorrow,” she said.
Amuta died on Wednesday, February 9 at the age of 79 after a protracted sickness.
He is survived by his wife Cordelia and six children.
