Mr. Okechukwu Okereke, the husband of the late Nollywood actress Cynthia Okereke, says his family is struggling to raise funds for her funeral ceremony.
Cynthia Okereke was abducted last year alongside actor Clemson Cornel Nonyelu, popularly known as ‘Agbogidi’, by unknown gunmen on Friday, July 29, 2022, while they were filming in Enugu State.
Although she was later released unhurt by the abductors days after they were declared missing, the veteran actress died on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, after a brief illness.
As reported by Vanguard, Mr. Okereke lamented how the Actors Guild of Nigeria failed to assist his family and that he was the only person planning his wife’s burial rites with assistance from his son.
He pleaded that he was in dire need of financial assistance to give his wife a befitting burial. He also revealed that his wife died as a result of the shock she sustained following her kidnap experience last year.
Ever since her abduction and release, she had been in and out of the hospital before her untimely demise last month.
Agbogidi confirmed that while they were in the kidnappers’ den, the late actress was begging the bandits to bring her HBP drugs for her, which they reluctantly obliged. 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.”
Okereke says his family is currently grappling with financial difficulties to arrange the funeral ceremony for his departed wife. He expressed his dismay over the Actor’s Guild of Nigeria’s failure to support his family and pleaded for financial aid to provide a fitting farewell for his late wife.
