A 39-year-old Nigerian footballer, Akeem Omolade, was found dead in his car in Italy just days after complaining of pain in his legs.
The emergency services found the former Torino striker unresponsive in a Peugeot in Sicily’s capital Palermo on Monday, June 13.
Although the initial examination showed no obvious external injuries, the family of the deceased said the Kaduna-born player had complained of leg pains days before.
Akeem Omolade represented the Maroons in Serie A, Italy’s top flight, between 2001-2003, making five appearances in total. He also represented 11 other clubs in the country, including Treviso, Novara, and Reggiana, before his retirement in 2017.
Torino said in a statement:
“President Urbano Cairo and all of Torino Football Club sincerely share in the Omolade family’s grief at the passing of our former player Akeem Omolade. Signed from Treviso, he first played in our youth side and then for the first team, making his Serie A debut against Inter Milan on Ferbruary 2 2003. The entire Torino family sends its deepest sympathies to his loved ones, his parents and his many friends.
In other news, the family and friends of a young Nigerian lady have been thrown into mourning after she was stabbed to death by suspected armed robbers in Anambra state.
The deceased, a 300-level student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) identified as Chiamaka Mabel Okeke, was stabbed during a robbery attack at a Shawarma spot where she had been working due to the ASUU strike on Friday, June 10.
The Vice President of the Faculty of Arts Student Association (FASA), Comrade Chioma Kanu, who confirmed the incident, said Chiamaka succumbed to the injuries she sustained on Saturday, June 11 and has been laid to rest in her hometown in Uruokwe village in Enugwu-Ukwu.