Nollywood Actress Nimmy Ferrari Dies at 26, Buried in Newly Built Home Days Before Housewarming
The Nigerian entertainment industry is in mourning following the death of rising Nollywood actress and content creator Nimmy Ferrari, who died at the age of 26 just days before she was due to celebrate the completion of her newly built home in Sagamu, Ogun State, and was subsequently buried at the very property she had hoped to officially unveil to family and friends.
Ferrari, whose real name was Nimota Adesanya, sometimes given as Adesanya Nimota Omotolani, had reportedly spent years building the Sagamu house and was said to be finalising plans for its housewarming celebration at the time of her death. News of her passing first spread on social media on Saturday, September 6, before being formally confirmed by close colleague and fellow actress Oluwakemisola Apesin, popularly known as Kemity, in an emotional Instagram post shared on Sunday night. “Everybody is back home; we left only you, IDERA Nimmyferrari. It is well,” Apesin wrote. Ferrari’s immediate younger sister later confirmed the death publicly, bringing an end to the uncertainty that had followed the initial social media reports.
Videos that spread widely across Instagram and TikTok over the weekend showed a large crowd gathered at the property, with mourners present as workers dug a grave within the compound, and footage showing her body, wrapped in white cloth in keeping with Islamic burial rites, being carried to its final resting place inside the walls of the home she had built.
The exact circumstances surrounding Ferrari’s death remain unconfirmed by her family. Multiple reports circulating online have attributed her death to complications following surgery for uterine fibroids, benign growths common among women of reproductive age that are typically removed through routine procedures, with some posts claiming she fell into a coma shortly after the operation and did not recover. However, as of the time of reporting, these accounts remain unverified, and no official cause of death has been confirmed by Ferrari’s family or representatives.
Ferrari was a prolific figure within Nigeria’s Yoruba-language film industry, having appeared in productions including World Famous, Olowosile, Omo Agba, Iran Keta, Awari, Ogo and Orisa Pari, working alongside established industry figures such as Niyi Johnson, Itele D Icon and Sanusi Izihaq. She also previously worked behind the scenes as a director on the 2021 film Awari, and went on to build a further audience through her own production outfit, Nimmy Ferrari Productions, as well as her YouTube channel, Nimmy Ferrari TV, where she became known for street-style vox pop interviews and candid conversations with fellow entertainers about their experiences in Nollywood.
Tributes have continued to flood in from across the Nigerian entertainment community since news of her death broke, with actresses including Victoria Kolawole, Dada Tolani and Adeola Adewoyin, alongside actor Jigan Babaoja, among those publicly mourning her loss. Ferrari’s death arrives at a particularly heavy moment for the Nollywood community, coming just weeks after she had paid tribute to veteran actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, following his own death on August 24, a coincidence that colleagues have described as especially painful given how recently she had mourned him herself.
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