Nollywood veteran Diewait Ikpechukwu dies at 71 after long illness
- Diewait Ikpechukwu, known for playing kings and elders on screen, died on Thursday at 71.
- The Actors Guild of Nigeria announced his death in a tribute on Friday.
- He acted for over 25 years and was the guild's first Enugu chapter chairman.
Veteran Nollywood actor Diewait Ikpechukwu has died at the age of 71, the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has said. He passed away on Thursday, November 5, 2026, after a long illness. The guild did not say what the illness was.
The AGN national president, Alhaji Abubakar Sanusi Yakubu, made the death public in a tribute posted on Instagram on Friday, November 6. He called Ikpechukwu a legend who had bowed out, and said those who knew him would keep his memory.
For Nigerian film fans, Ikpechukwu was a familiar face in movies about tradition and power. He often played kings, traditional rulers and respected elders, and his strong presence on screen made him easy to recognise in films built around culture and custom.
From the pitch to the palace roles
His path to acting was not a straight one. Born on August 23, 1955, in southeastern Nigeria, he first chased a football career. He played as a right winger in the 1970s, turned out for Blue Diamonds of Nsukka and Kaduna Rocks, and captained the Kaduna Polytechnic team. He was also invited to the camp of the Green Eagles, as the Super Eagles were then known.
While in Kaduna, he picked up an interest in broadcasting and was said to have done football commentary on radio. He studied Marketing, earning a Higher National Diploma from Kaduna State Polytechnic after attending Comprehensive High School in Awo-Omamma, Imo State. He did his National Youth Service Corps year at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and later got a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Before Nollywood took him full time, he worked at Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) as a business office manager. His move into entertainment followed television work at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Enugu.
His first feature film was Evil Men in 1998, where he played a traditional ruler alongside Pete Edochie, Alex Usifo and Liz Benson. Over a career of more than 25 years, he appeared in films including Royal Palace (2005), The Guilty (2006), Across the River (2006), Python King (2007), Omera (2019), A Dance to Forget (2020), Emecheta (2021), Nwando (2021) and Ìjé Love (2022).
He was also the first chairman of the AGN's Enugu State chapter. Younger actors who met him recall his advice to take the craft seriously and not to chase fame in desperation.
He is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren. The family is expected to announce funeral arrangements later.
