Okechukwu Okereke, the husband of the late Nollywood actress Cynthia Okereke, has expressed his disappointment with the Actor’s Guild of Nigeria (AGN) for not supporting his family in difficult times.
Recall that Cynthia Okereke’s death was announced on July 11, 2023, a year after she had suffered a terrible abduction experience. The family already lost a lot of money to pay a ransom for her release.
Her husband, Mr Okechukwu Okereke, said in a telephone conversation that he is bearing the responsibility of arranging her funeral with help from his son.
He earnestly hopped for financial help to give his wife a befitting burial rites.
Mr. Okereke recalled: “After the kidnapping issue, the trauma came in. She developed 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.
“From there, we rushed her again to a private hospital, where she underwent the first surgery and waited for the second one to be carried out on her before her doctors discovered that it had affected her heart.
“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.”
Mr Okereke, however, appealed to AGN to support to give Cynthia a befitting burial.
He concluded that the AGN raised funds to support Cynthia during the time she was kidnapped but even that money never got to the family.
“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,” a source from Agbogidi’s family insisted.