A prominent member of late Stephen
Keshi’s family, Mr. Rickey Aburime, has debunked media reports that Keshi died
of heart attack. Aburime revealed that Keshi was meeting some friends and
family members at his resident in Benin City, when suddenly he fell sick.
He added that a toxicological autopsy
would determine the actual cause of the ex-coach who is popularly called “The Big
Boss”.
Meanwhile the Nigerian
Football Federation’s General-Secretary Mohammed Senusi says it’s a sad day for
football.
“He was the captain of Nigeria for quite
a while and also played a major role in Nigeria’s football development. He was
a household name in Nigeria.”
Senusi told the newsmen that Keshi was
rushed to hospital after he complained about being in pain.
“He complained that his legs are giving
him problems and he requested that he should be taken to hospital. A few
minutes after, when he got to the hospital, he died.”
“All of a sudden, they noticed his
countenance changed and he was not okay. The person with him called Ebuka and
they rushed him to the hospital. He was dead by the time they got to the
hospital. A nurse that checked him said there was no pulse. Doctors later
confirmed him dead. “After the confirmation, as he was not a patient of the
hospital, they could not write any report or present any death certificate.
They said we must bring the police report and the police came to inspect the
body. I am about to take the corpse to Stella Obasanjo Hospital pending the
autopsy which the family want to do. Dr. Wilson Akhiwu will conduct the
autopsy.” “There is no official statement as to the cause of death. There will
be no embalming. It was sudden and we don’t want anybody to speculate. There
was no sign of ill health and Keshi has not complained of any recently,” he
said.
