Veteran Yoruba movie star Taiwo Hassan, popularly known by his stage name Ogogo, will be laid to rest on Monday in his hometown of Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, following his death on Sunday, August 23, 2026, after a battle with stage-four cancer.
According to burial arrangements announced in a WhatsApp message reportedly signed by the Chief Imam of Ilaro, the Janazah (funeral) prayer will hold at 10:00 a.m. at the Asade Agunloye Pavilion Ground. The announcement described him as a beloved member of the community, stating: “The Ilaro Muslim Community wishes to announce the burial of our beloved brother, Alhaji Hassan Taiwo (Ogogo).”
Ogogo’s health struggles became public knowledge just days before his death. On August 18, 2026, his daughters Kira and Lima announced that their father was battling Stage 4 cancer, appealing for help from medical experts and treatment facilities. The sisters clarified they were not seeking financial donations but access to specialists who could help with his condition.
Amid the appeal, one of his daughters revealed that Senator Olamilekan Adeola, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Ogun State in the 2027 polls, had been footing the actor’s medical bills, though the family said Ogogo had at one point been discharged by the hospital treating him and was seeking alternative care.
Following his death, his daughter Kira confirmed the news, which was followed by an outpouring of tributes from actors, filmmakers, fans and others across Nigeria and beyond. Other reports noted that the disclosure of his death was made by his daughter Kira Taiwo via a live session on her Instagram page on Sunday evening.
Also read:Breaking: Nollywood mourns veteran actor Taiwo Hassan ‘Ogogo’ after cancer battle
Reacting to the news, Senator Adeola sent a condolence message to the actor’s family, expressing sadness over his death.
Taiwo Hassan was born on October 31, 1959, in Ilaro, Ogun State, into a family with a strong history of twins, he has a twin brother, and both his father and grandfather were also twins. He began his working life outside the entertainment industry, training as an automobile mechanic before working with the Lagos State Water Corporation. He retired from government work in 1994 to concentrate fully on acting, a passion he had already pursued part-time on stage since the early 1980s.
Over more than four decades in Nigerian theatre and film, Hassan became particularly recognised for his commanding performances in Yoruba-language films and gained wider prominence following his role in Owo Blow, which helped establish him as a household name in the Nigerian film industry. More recently, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2023 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards for his role as Alaafin Ademuyiwa in Kunle Afolayan’s Aníkúlápó.
His death brings to an end the career of an actor who spent more than four decades in Nigeria’s theatre and film industry, leaving behind a legacy as one of the most recognisable figures in Yoruba-language Nollywood.
