Death came calling for Ruth Kadiri last Sunday, not in person, but on social media.
For a woman whose career has largely been built around telling stories, the Nollywood actress and filmmaker suddenly found herself at the centre of one she never wrote, acted in or produced: a report announcing her own death.
On Sunday, September 6, 2026, social media was awash with claims that Kadiri had died in a car accident.
The report was false, but it spread quickly enough to alarm fans and followers, forcing the actress to step forward and correct a story about her own life.
In a video shared online, Kadiri assured her followers that she was safe and had not been involved in any accident.
She also disclosed that several social media accounts had been created to circulate the claim, estimating that about seven or eight accounts were involved, and urged her followers to report them rather than amplify the falsehood.
“I am really sad at the extent to which some people will go on this social media space to hurt and wish death on another person. I stay in my lane. Leave me alone,” she said.
The episode was an unwelcome interruption for an actress whose career has steadily expanded beyond performing before the camera.
Kadiri has built a name for herself as a screenwriter and producer, while becoming one of the prominent Nollywood filmmakers to embrace YouTube as a major avenue for distributing Nigerian films.
Born on March 24, 1988, in Benin City, Edo State, Kadiri has written, acted in and produced several films, including Matters Arising, Over the Edge, Somebody Lied and Memory Lane.
Her digital platform, RuthKadiri247, has since grown into a major outlet for her productions, with her films attracting millions of views.
But the significance of Kadiri’s YouTube journey extends beyond the size of her audience. Through her productions, she has also provided visibility for emerging actors, including Chidi Dike, Eronini Osinachim, Annabel Apara, Ezike Uche Kelvin, popularly known as Kenzy, and Francess Nwabunike, among others.
Through her work as a producer, Kadiri has increasingly combined established names with younger performers, giving emerging actors opportunities to appear in films distributed to a large online audience. It is a model that has become an important part of her identity as a digital filmmaker.
READ ALSO: Ruth Kadiri Debunks False Death Rumours, Confirms She Is Safe
Her filmmaking did not stop while the death rumour circulated. Around the time the false report emerged, Kadiri was still releasing content through RuthKadiri247, including Once Upon a Village.
The timing offered a striking contrast. While social media was announcing her death, the actress was alive, working and continuing to release new productions for the audience she had spent years building.
It also highlighted the speed with which misinformation can move in the digital age. A claim can travel across platforms within hours, leaving the person at its centre with the difficult task of correcting information that should never have existed in the first place.
Kadiri chose to address the matter herself. She appeared before her audience, confirmed that she was alive and asked her followers to help stop the accounts spreading the false report.
For an actress who has spent years creating stories, the death hoax became an unwanted addition to her own public narrative. Yet it also brought renewed attention to the career she has built behind and in front of the camera.
From acting and screenwriting to production and YouTube filmmaking, Kadiri has steadily expanded her place in Nollywood while creating opportunities for newer performers along the way.
The false report may have attempted to bring her story to an abrupt end, but the facts were clear: Ruth Kadiri was alive, safe and still working.
And with new productions continuing to emerge from her platform, the filmmaker is not done writing her story yet.