A former Nigerian goalkeeper and head coach of Heartland FC, Mr Christian Obi, has died in a fatal motor accident.
Our correspondent gathered that the fatal accident occurred on Friday, August 23, at Umunna, near Okigwe in Imo State.
Heartland players and officials were on their way to Abakaliki for the Ifeanyi Ekwueme TICO/SELECT Pre-season Tournament when one of their vehicles rammed into an abandoned bus, the club said in a release.
The release read in part, “The heart-breaking day saw the Heartland FC team depart the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, for the preseason tournament with enthusiasm at around 3:30pm in three vehicles. But at about some minutes after 4pm, one of the vehicles rammed into a carelessly parked truck in its attempt to evade an oncoming vehicle.
“The driver tried as he could but the impact of the collision caused a sudden shock to our coach, Christian Obi, who was unconscious with a slight injury on his right leg upon evacuation from the badly affected part of the bus.”
The release stated that Coach Obi and other injured players were rushed to the nearby hospital at Okwelle in Onuimo LGA of Imo State “but despite the best efforts of the medical personnel, our revered coach gave up.”
The club added that Coach Obi’s remains have been deposited at the morgue of the Federal University Teaching Hospital, (FUTH) in Owerri while the injured were referred to the same hospital for more proper care.
Obi, 57, coached the team last season. He was a Nigeria youth international goalkeeper who competed in the men’s football tournament of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.