‘My son has gone to be with Jesus’, Actress Eucharia Anunobi confirms death of only child

Veteran Nollywood actress-turned-evangelist, Eucharia Anunobi has confirmed the news that she lost her teenage child, Raymond, to sickle cell anaemia on Wednesday.

Speaking to NETNG, the 52-year-old actress said her son had ‘passed to be with Jesus.’

She said, “My son has gone to our place of origin (heaven) to be with our daddy Jesus, waiting for me when I eventually go there at the fullness of time.’’

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Raymond had been battling with sickle cell anaemia, and finally died at the age of 15.

Asked about how she felt, the evangelist said, “God knows best. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

This is the second time that Eucharia, who recently returned to the screen after almost a decade, has lost a loved one in less than three years.

Her father, Felix Anunobi, also passed on after a brief illness in 2015.

Raymond was the only son of the actress and the product of her stormy marriage to Charles Ekwu.

The couple got married in 2000 and the marriage lasted till 2006 before complications began to set in. The union became a subject of controversy after Eucharia moved out of her matrimonial home and accused her husband of infidelity, among other allegations.

A divorce suit was filed in 2007, but it suffered several setbacks until 2009 when the trial began.

Eucharia, while being led in evidence by her then lawyer, Michael Nwana, narrated to the court in tears how her husband reportedly slept with their 13-year-old housemaid, beat her up several times and refused to take care of their children.

According to Eucharia, she had been living happily with her husband until 2006, when she caught him having sex with their housemaid.

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The actress has, at different times, expressed her frustration and the burden that she has had to endure as a single parent.

On one occasion, she told a national newspaper how she coped with the burden without any form of assistance from the father of late Raymond (her ex-husband).

“The Lord has been sustaining me as a single parent. I don’t think about it. All I know is that God created me and the child that he gave me so, God will provide whatever that I need,” she was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, her colleagues and fans have been condoling with her especially on social media since the news was confirmed on Thursday.