Okechukwu Okereke, the husband of the late Nollywood actress, Cynthia Okereke, has opened up on her abduction, d3ath and the financial difficulty the family is currently facing in arranging the funeral ceremony.
Speaking during an interview with Vanguard, Okereke said that he is solely responsible for organizing his wife’s burial arrangements with the help of his son.
He emphasized the urgent need for financial aid to provide a befitting farewell for his late wife, expressing dismay over the Actor’s Guild of Nigeria’s (AGN) failure to support his family.
Speaking on the demise of the movie star, Okechukwu said his wife did not recover from the kidnapping incident and the medication she took while in captivity triggered the complications in her health.
He said, “After the kidnapping issue, the trauma came in. She developed a leg problem because they tied her legs.
“When she was released from the kidnappers’ den, she had severe pain and we rushed her to the orthopaedic hospital, where it was discovered that the pain relief drugs she took had affected her tummy.
“At that point, we moved her to a specialist hospital in Owerri, where she was placed on life support. And on Tuesday, July 11, she gave up the ghost, after she spent about four months at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu.”
Regarding the ransom paid to his wife’s kidnappers, Mr Okereke explained that his family and Cynthia’s family contributed to paying the ransom, adding the funds raised by AGN were not handed over to them.
He said, “I can confirm to you that no dime has been given to my family by AGN till date. My family brought 50% of the kidnap ransom, while Cynthia’s family brought the remaining 50%.
“Till date, we haven’t received anything from the leadership of the guild”
In response to the accusation, a source from the Enugu State chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria refuted the claim, asserting that the money was given to the two families.
An AGN source said, “You can believe whatever he tells you but the truth is that the money was handed over to him, in our office. He’s a big liar if he denies that he didn’t collect the money”