Ailing Nollywood actress Halima Abubakar has announced she is quitting acting.

The controversial actress broke the news on her official Instagram page on Tuesday morning.

Although she didn’t state the reasons behind the decision, the post caption, ‘rejuvenate and continue healing,’ suggests it may have to do with her health.

“Halima Abubakar quit acting. Rejuvenate and continue healing. We all love you, my sweet sis. We are waiting for you, diva,” her post read.

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A post shared by Halima Abubakar (@halimabubakar)

The decision also coincides with charges the Founder of Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, filed against her for alleged defamation.

In September, the actress’ siblings called Apostle Suleman over her deteriorating health.

In a post on Ms Abubakar’s Instagram story, the family members asked the cleric to stay away from her. The post showed her in a bedridden state.

When PREMIUM TIMES called her management on Wednesday, the responder identified herself as Ms Abubakar’s sister and said she wasn’t responding to inquiries.

Case continues

Meanwhile, having failed to meet the demands of Mr Suleman, who served her a cease and desist notice through his legal representatives, Ms Abubakar has been taken to court.

Mr Suleman’s legal representative, Rodney Adzuanaga, told this newspaper that a writ has been filed against Ms Abubakar seeking several reliefs against her on the cleric’s behalf

“The Chief Justice has to assign the case to a court, after which a date will be scheduled. This usually takes about two weeks. So in the coming weeks, we will start proceedings against her."

“Among other things, we seek a declaration that her publication is defamatory. We are also asking her to tender an unreserved apology and other monetary damages,” he said.

Background

In September, Apostle Suleman reacted to several sex allegations against him by the actress.

For months unending, the erstwhile famous actress accused the controversial cleric of reneging on his promise to marry her.

She also said he was behind an undisclosed life-threatening ailment that had plagued her for years.

She alleged that Mr Suleman had sexual affairs with several actresses, including Shan George and Iyabo Ojo, a claim the cleric and his handlers ignored.

Ms Abubakar, who began acting in 2001, when she played a minor role in ‘Rejected’, revealed that she had an affair with the preacher because he told her he was a divorcee with three children.

On Instagram, she said her life was in danger and that the cleric should be held responsible for whatever happened to her.

The preacher then issued a cease and desist notice to the actress.

A cease and desist notice is a cautionary letter sent to an alleged wrongdoer describing the alleged misconduct and demanding a stop to the alleged wrongdoing.

In the notice signed by Mr Adzuanaga, the cleric accused Ms Abubakar of publishing malicious, defamatory, and demeaning statements about the apostle on several microblog sites.

The letter, a copy made available to this newspaper, stated that the defamatory statements published by Ms Abubakar on her Instagram not only attribute that the Apostle is diabolical but that he is responsible for whatever medical condition she is suffering.

It said the statements are false, untrue, malicious, defamatory, baseless, and a tool for blackmailing Apostle Suleman while reducing him in the eyes of responsible and right-thinking members of society.

Other demands

Other than restraining herself from further comments, it stated that Ms Abubakar must publish a retraction of her earlier statements in five national dailies within three days from Thursday.

They also demanded that she delivers a letter to the Apostle stating her full assurance and undertaking that she would desist from publishing previous and further defamatory statements against him.

She must also repay him for all costs incurred in defending and protecting his reputation.

Despite the notice, the numerous allegations are still visible on the actress’ Instagram page, which boasts 1 million followers.