Ex-Super Eagles Defender Dies At 43

By Tomiwa Fawunmi

It was a moment of sober reflection for the Nigerian sports industry yesterday when the death news of the former Super Eagles defender Uche Okafor was announced.

The 43 year old’s dead body was reportedly found hanging at his Dallas (USA) home on Thursday, January 6, 2011 shortly after dropping his daughter at school – but it was not ascertained as at press time if it was a case of suicide or murder.

The late defender who recently signed a deal with the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) as a football pundit was described by his colleague; former Super Eagles’ mid fielder Mutiu Adepoju who had a close encounter with the deceased recently as a lively and intelligent man.

‘It was a shock and I was very sad when I heard of his death. We met two months ago when we were invited to inaugurate a stadium in Benin and we had a very good time together. He was a very lively and intelligent person. One would never think of such an incident’, a sad Adepoju tells NET.

Sadly, Uche Okafor joins the list of Nigerian footballers like Samuel Okwaraji, Justin Fashanu and most recently Emmanuel Ogoli who have all died under  mysterious circumstances.