Tragedy struck at the home of ex-Super Eagles coach and Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, Amodu Shuaibu as he passed on in his sleep in Benin City, Edo State.
His death came just days after another ex-national team coach and close friend of Amodu, Stephen Keshi, died in the same city. Amodu’s corpse was buried on Saturday in his hometown Okpella in Etsako East based on Muslim rites.
His eldest son, Abdul-Aziz has revealed that Amodu gave a hint of his death while they were talking.
Abdul-Aziz, a 26-year-old graduate from Igbinedion University, said, “I am getting set for the National Youth Service Corps programme this month. So, I called him (Amodu) yesterday (Friday) to discuss with him but he didn’t pick my call. He called back and told me that he was very busy. He promised to come to Okpella today (Saturday), so that we could see.
“He briefly said something about death when I asked about (Stephen) Keshi. He said Keshi was not buried immediately because he was not a Muslim. He told me that if he died he should be buried immediately. Then today, I got the news that he was dead.”
Abdul-Aziz said he was shocked when he received the news of his father’s death.
“We were not even told that he was taken to a hospital. He doesn’t fast naturally. For the past few years, he stopped fasting due to his health condition. I don’t know what happened this year that he decided to fast. When I asked him about fasting, he said he just felt like he could do it,” Abdul-Aziz added.
Speaking with Punch, Amodu’s cousin, Akuri Afegbua, said the former Eagles coach died after complaints of chest pain and his inability to get the money NFF owed him, adding that his poor financial status had made it difficult for him to take care of himself and his immediate family.
“I think he died of frustration due to his financial status. He was not paid (by the NFF). He was complaining of not being paid and had no money to maintain himself and his immediate family. I think the purpose of his being in Benin was to put in a bill for his payment, (from) both the NFF and the state government,” the cousin said.
“We were together on Friday. In the afternoon, he called to say that he was feeling some pains on the left side of his chest and he called in a doctor. The doctor checked his blood pressure; he had 140 over 100. The doctor told him it was not bad, that he could continue with his fasting,” Afegbua said.
The ex-Eagles coach was full of life on Friday when he assisted one of his uncles to secure a bail at a police station. He added that it was shocking when they found Amodu dead at about 4am on Saturday.
“Apart from his complaint of chest pains, he was perfectly okay. We came back on Saturday morning to wake him up but found him dead,” Afegbua added.
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