Nkechi Blessing slams Phyna as an online nuisance after the 37-year-old actress warned the 29-year-old BBNaija star to stop fighting on Instagram

Nollywood actress and producer Nkechi Blessing Sunday, 37, publicly warned Big Brother Naija Level Up winner Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, known as Phyna, 29, on Instagram in Nigeria on 17 September 2026 that repeated online confrontations were making Ijeoma Josephina Otabor a nuisance.

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Nkechi Blessing Sunday said Ijeoma Josephina Otabor talks to people “anyhow” whenever Ijeoma Josephina Otabor comes online and asked whether Ijeoma Josephina Otabor has elders at home who can offer correction.

The actress also noted that strangers sometimes say Nkechi Blessing Sunday resembles Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, a comparison Nkechi Blessing Sunday rejected.

“Phyna, relax. Must you fight with everybody? I know you will come for me, but number one, I am not your mate. So before you set your camera and try to insult me, just know I’m 37. I senior you well. You need to calm down. You are doing too much,” Nkechi Blessing Sunday said.

Ijeoma Josephina Otabor replied on 18 September 2026 with a stinging video of her own. Ijeoma Josephina Otabor said Nkechi Blessing Sunday and Ijeoma Josephina Otabor are not friends and have had no contact beyond one exchange about two months earlier.

According to Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, Nkechi Blessing Sunday asked about a film role and a rate. Ijeoma Josephina Otabor quoted ₦1.5 million.

Nkechi Blessing Sunday later said the figure was too high and that Nkechi Blessing Sunday had already recast the part because Nkechi Blessing Sunday does not delay work. Ijeoma Josephina Otabor said Ijeoma Josephina Otabor apologised at the time and that the conversation ended there.

“We are not friends. No other conversation, no other chat,” Ijeoma Josephina Otabor said, while calling Nkechi Blessing Sunday “grandma” and questioning why the actress had come for Ijeoma Josephina Otabor in public. Ijeoma Josephina Otabor promised to post screenshots of the earlier messages.

The exchange sits against longer public histories for both women. Nkechi Blessing Sunday, born on 14 February 1989 and raised in Surulere, Lagos, has worked in Nollywood since 2008 and produced films including Omoge Lekki.

Nkechi Blessing Sunday has previously spoken about stepping away from social media rows after earlier controversies.

Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, born on 2 June 1997 and from Edo State, won Big Brother Naija Season 7 on 2 October 2022 with 40.74 per cent of the final vote and a ₦100 million prize. Since leaving the house, Ijeoma Josephina Otabor has remained a frequent presence in online disputes.

Reactions have split along familiar lines. Some viewers backed Nkechi Blessing Sunday’s appeal to seniority and restraint.

Others argued that a single delayed reply and a collapsed ₦1.5 million booking did not justify a public dressing-down. By the afternoon of 18 September 2026 neither woman had issued a further official statement.

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The episode once again shows how quickly a private booking message can become public theatre in Nigerian entertainment, where age, tone and Instagram timing still carry unusual weight.