Photo: Facebook

P Square.

The mother of Paul and Peter Okoye of P-Square fame, Mrs. Josephine Okoye died five hours after a heart surgery in an Indian hospital at about 11pm (3am Indian time) on Wednesday.

The deceased, who was a devoted christian and church minister in Jos, Plateau State, died after a protracted battle with an undisclosed heart illness.

The late Mrs. Okoye was first admitted at St. Nicholas hospital, Lagos, but when there was no assuring development on her health, she was transferred to another hospital in Kolkata, India, where she eventually died last night.

Mrs. Okoye, who is popularly known as a major pillar and source of inspiration to the singing twin brothers (P-Square), had been in and out of the hospital for about four months before she eventually died.

She is survived by her Jos based husband, children; Ifeanyi, Henry, Jude, Lilian, Tony, Peter, Paul and Mary. She also had grand-children, one of which is Cameron, the son of Peter.

A condolence register has been opened in her honour at P-Square’s Omole Phase 1 residence. Friends and colleagues of the multiple award-winning singers have been visiting the house to commiserate with the Okoye family.

Some of the early callers in P-Square’s Square Villa resident this morning include their marketer, T-Joe, Flip Tyce, Samklef and Helen Paul-Bamisile.

Peter, a better half of the P-Square twin brothers, said their mother would be greatly missed, not just because she was their mother, but because she played a vital role in the success story of P-Square.

”You know that she was a prayer warrior, so I don’t need to tell you how she stood by us spiritually. Besides, she was the only one that believed in us when we decided to make a career out of music.

”I can remember that she used to sneak us out at night then to attend shows without the consent of our father who insisted that we must quit music to face our education,” Peter said.