Veteran Nollywood actress and evangelist Eucharia Anunobi has revealed the deeply painful story behind her failed marriage, recounting how the man she loved convinced her into a relationship against her parents’ warnings—only to later abandon her and their son at the most difficult moment of their lives.
In an emotional recollection, the actress spoke candidly about how passion and youthful excitement clouded her judgment when she first met the father of her late son.
“Well, in the course of becoming famous, I met my late son’s father. Unfortunately my parents didn’t find him completely worthy, they felt that he was not that academically sound for me. But then I liked everything that he used to do to my body and I couldn’t think. And nobody could take me out of his hands.”
According to her, when the man eventually tried to formally meet her parents, they made their position clear.
“When he eventually did try to meet my parents, my father said that he was not qualified because academically, he was not up to me as it were, But I felt if you could give it a push, he could become better. And then he was also not that financially buoyant.”
Despite the concerns, she said he constantly reassured her about the future.
“But he was all over me, that he was going to become the man that I would dream of, and that he would make me proud.”
The actress also revealed that before committing fully to the relationship, she disclosed an important medical detail about herself.
“And I think I then told him that my genotype is AS. Because I had always known that my genotype is AS. I did ask him to go and do his genotype.
“He did and he now happened to be AS. And that when I now said, we cannot continue this relationship. He convinced me and said baby, he believed things would turn around the other way, that he doesn’t think we will give SS birth, and that he is also trying to check, that some people could get lucky and have a baby and it would be AS and not SS.”
Moved by his promises, she stayed.
“That I should not leave him; where was he going to start from? That he loves me so much, that he would be there, that he was never going to leave me bla bla, that he would be there. He convinced me and we continued. So we had my son.”
But their joy soon turned into a battle when their child became ill.
“Just before my son was one year, he fell ill and I took him to hospital to check his genotype they said he was SS. So I started the battle of my life.”
Her son had developed Sickle Cell Disease, a lifelong condition that requires constant medical attention.
According to Anunobi, instead of standing by them, the child’s father distanced himself from both mother and son.
“Then Charles turned against his own son. He didn’t want to relate with my own son, because I had to work. I was the one taking care of the bills. I was the one paying the rent. I was the one doing everything.”
Even as the pressure mounted, she said she held on to the marriage, hoping things would improve.
“I still held unto the marriage believing that it would alright, that we would be fine but instead he would be going out.”
She recalled heartbreaking moments when her son suffered medical crises and his father would simply walk away.
“I always had two maids. If I go out and my son had crisis, Charles would just abandon my son.”
The actress said the breaking point came when she was away working and received a shocking phone call.
“I remember I went to Lekki to work one time; my son was just about 4. That time, the hospital that we used to use was Duro Soleye on Allen; they have his file and everything. I spent millions on hospital bills. Charles never brough on naira. Charles Eku you know what I am saying, you know if I am lying against you.”
Then came the call that changed everything.
“Then I went to work. His own cousin had come to live with us his name is Chinonye. She called me and said, uncle is parking his things. So that was how Charles Eku parked his things and left and said, that he can’t deal with a child that is SS.”
The actress said the betrayal cut even deeper because he had once promised to stand by her through anything.
“This was the same person that convinced me to stay, the same person that said that he would be there through thick and thin, that same that my parents said, Eucharia this is not the person for you, that was how he abandoned my son and I wasn’t even home.”
Looking back today, she says she now understands what her parents saw years ago.
“Looking back. Yes, what my mother and my father saw with respect to my late son’s father, they were right. But because of the sexual intimacy we already had unduly I was blinded. I actually didn’t see the red flags.”
She admitted she ignored warning signs she should have taken seriously.
“Someone’s who didn’t as it were, have a skill. Whose academic level wasn’t up to mine. And who was not also generating income. Those I ignored thinking I can beef up. You can’t put in someone what they did not put in themselves.”
Speaking from a place of reflection and faith, Anunobi said marriage must be a partnership where both people bring value.
“God said I will give you a help meet for you in the book of Gen. You are bringing something I am bringing something so we come on a path and meet and we relate on the possibilities of what we came with. That’s the meaning of a help meet – So you bring something I bring something.”
“If a partner is not bringing something, the weight will be on one side. So he didn’t brings anything.”
Despite the pain, she said she chose to share her story so others could learn.
“I am sorry I have to say this. I didn’t want to talk about it because he is gone but just so people can learn.”
Reflecting on her younger self, the actress admits passion clouded her judgment.
“He knows. If I had thought about it deeply then. But you know, out of youthful exuberance and sexual intoxication, because he was good, I probably would not have been in that relationship.”
“I didn’t listen to my parents. I overlooked wisdom which is God and I thought with strength, with my power, with my ability, I could help him.”
Her late son, Raymond Ekwu, passed away in 2017 after years of battling Sickle Cell Disease—a loss that remains one of the most painful chapters of the actress’ life.