Barely three days after the passing of former Enyimba, Sunshine Stars and Nasarawa United forward, Chinedu Udechukwu, the Nigeria Professional Football League has been thrown into mourning again with the demise of former Kano Pillars striker, Ebuka Odenigbo.
The player was said to have passed on during a brief illness.
His former Club, Kano Pillars expressed shock at the sudden death of Odenigbo.
“We received with shock the passing away of our ex-player in the person of Ebuka David. Ebuka was a talented and young footballer with great potential. On behalf of the acting Chairman, Alh. Ibrahim Galadima, and the entire Sai Masu Gida family, our condolences to his family,” the club tweeted via its official handle.
Former Kano Pillars player and ally of Odenigbo, Nzube Anaezemba also paid tribute to the player on his Facebook wall.
“Fourty-fourty my guy,… I still believe in miracles, I pray the bad news will still turn to good news, it’s possible” Abeg you still have a very long way to go in this life” Abeg u in the name of God stay with me bro,” a crestfallen Anaezemba wrote.
The 21-year-old joined Kano Pillars in 2019 after a successful Higher Institution Football League exposure with the University of Agriculture, Makurdi Tillers in 2018 when he emerged the season’s Most Valuable Player and had also reportedly attracted transfer interest from Enyimba FC then.
He scored 11 goals for Kano Pillars during his first stint in 2019.
Odenigbo’s death comes after the demise of another NPFL player, Chinedu Udechukwu who passed away on Wednesday as well.
According to Udechukwu’s former club, Nasarawa United, the player slumped and died in Jos after complaining of headache.
In their statement, Nasarawa United sent condolences to the family of the player.
“We are devastated to learn about the sudden demise of one of our former players, Chinedu Udechukwu.
“While we pray for the repose of his soul in heaven, we send our deepest condolences to his immediate family, his loved ones, team and playmates, the Nigeria Football Federation as well as the football fraternity in the Country,” the statement read in part.
Another former club of Udechukwu, Sunshine Stars FC of Akure also wrote, “The bullish striker joined Sunshine Stars mid 2019/20 and played with the Club through the better part of 2020/21 season before joining Nasarawa United subsequently.
