UPDATE: I don’t want to die in silence, Phyna’s father begs for help

Mr Felix Otabor, the father of the winner of last year’s BBNaija season 7 ‘Level Up’ edition, Phyna, has cried out for help, saying he doesn’t want to die in silence.

In an interview with Vanguard last week, Otabor, complained that his daughter disappeared after winning the N100m grand prize.

He said the very day she was announced the winner was the last time they set eyes on her. “She neither called nor answered her parents’ calls,” he added.

Meanwhile, during the week, her father, Mr Felix Otabor called our reporter again on the telephone to say that Phyna hadn’t reached out to him or any member of the family.

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 sold all my ambulance cars my daughter won BBNaija”

“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 an ambulance 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 ambulance.

“I sold all my ambulance 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 dash 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 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 an 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.”

It’s true she bought jeep for me, but yet to reach out —-Father

Meanwhile, during the week, her father, Mr Felix Otabor called our reporter again on the telephone to say that Phyna hadn’t reached out to him or any member of the family. He said he thought that granting the first interview to Vanguard would compel her friends to advise her to return to her family. But it has worsened the situation, as his telephone has been buzzing since last weekend.

Though Otabor admitted that Phyna bought him an SUV after she won the BBNaija reality TV show, he, however, wanted more, and his daughter wasn’t ready to oblige him.

Maybe Phyna’s childhood experience, which formed part of the grudges she had against her parents, hasn’t been erased from her memory. In her Snapchat story, Phyna traced the origin of her feud with her family, recalling how her parents had treated her badly and always made her beg for love while growing up.

“Growing up, I always hear ‘You are not my daughter’. Yet, I would beg for parental love. The truth is, I have always begged people to love me. Today, I have finally accepted it. No wonder, I forgot. Guess I’m an ORPHAN,” she wrote.

Note that the father admitted that she bought an SUV car for him, but he also wanted her to replace the rickety cars he used for the ambulance business.

According to the father, he sold the rickety cars after Phyna advised him to do so on the promise that she would replace them. Couldn’t this have put pressure on her and fueled the reason she stayed away from her parents?

While some may frown at her attitude to stay away from her parents, many may commend her for buying an SUV for them even though she couldn’t fulfill the promise of replacing the ‘ambulance cars’.