Media personality Blessing Okoro, widely known as Blessing CEO, has strongly condemned social media users who publicly wished for her death following the recent passing of Nollywood actor Alexx Ekubo. Ekubo died on May 11 after a battle with advanced-stage kidney cancer, sparking a wave of online mourning that quickly turned hostile toward Okoro.
The Controversy Behind the Backlash
The hostility stems from a controversy in March when Okoro shocked the public by announcing she had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Her claims were quickly thrown into doubt after a cancer survivor stepped forward, accusing Okoro of stealing and flaunting her personal medical records online. Although the incident led to widespread public skepticism and mounting calls for her arrest over the alleged hoax, Okoro has repeatedly insisted that her terminal diagnosis is genuine.
Blessing CEO's Emotional Response
In a video shared online this evening, an emotional Okoro reacted fiercely to the backlash, raining curses on critics who suggested that God should have taken her life instead of Ekubo's. She questioned the selective empathy of the public, stating that she wonders why many Nigerians aggressively bully the living while saving their compassion exclusively for the dead.
She said: “How do you people sympathize with the dead but bully the living? Each time someone passes away and I see how people become suddenly sympathetic, I’m always surprised. If you read the comments people make when the person is alive, you’ll be shocked. Some people were even saying things like ‘God should take Blessing CEO and give us Alexx Ekubo.’ God will punish you all! And for those saying his family kept everything off social media, if his pictures had been posted while he was sick, the same people would still have mocked him and said all sorts of things.”
Okoro’s video has sparked mixed reactions online, with some supporting her stance against cyberbullying and others criticizing her for allegedly faking her illness.
