The family of slain former Flying Eagles defender, Douglas Uzama, is considering taking legal action against the Nigeria Football Federation in a bid to recover the reported N3m the national body owed the deceased, our correspondent has learnt.
The 18-year-old Gombe United defender was killed by unknown gunmen on December 29, 2016 in Benin while on a one-week holiday in the Edo State capital
Uzama represented the country during the 2015 CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger. But the left-back was not picked for the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where the Golden Eaglets won their fifth title.
He was also a member of the squad that failed to qualify for the 2017 Under-20 African Cup of Nations.
The NFF allegedly owed the player bonuses and allowances totaling N3m for playing in the 2017 U-20 AFCON qualifiers against Burundi and Sudan.
Jacob Uzama, the father of the slain player, had appealed to the federation to pay his son’s entitlements to enable the family to take care of the child he left behind.
Our correspondent learnt that the Uzama had made several unsuccessful moves to recover their late son’s entitlements from the NFF.
Sources told our correspondent that the NFF had been unable to settle the debt due to its current financial crisis.
It was learnt that the Uzama family, who fear they would not get the money from the NFF, had decided to explore options over the late player’s entitlements.
A family source told our correspondent that the family had called for another meeting with the federation to discuss the release of the players’ entitlements.
“The family is not happy with the NFF at all. They are very sad because the boy was the breadwinner of the family, since he is dead there is little they can do to take care of the child he left behind,” the source said.
“It is very tough for them to cater for themselves not to talk of adding the child to it. The money will go a long way in helping them.”
Jacob, who confirmed that the NFF had yet to pay up deceased entitlements, the family could seek legal redress if the federation fails to act.
He said, “We have yet to receive a single letter of condolence from them (NFF) not to talk of Douglas’ entitlements.
“The FIFA president consoled the country on the player’s death but our own federation cannot send a letter to the family. But we are still trying to get in touch with them so that we can get the money they owed him for the benefit of his child.”
Jacob added, “His manager has scheduled another meeting with the NFF and we expect a positive response but if that is not forthcoming, we may consider other legal means. We are still waiting for justice to be done because we know no one. The whole family has been really down.”
However, spokesman for the NFF, Ademola Olajire, said the federation had written a letter of condolence to the family but regretted that it had yet to be received by them.
“The letter was written a while ago and it was even attached with that of the FIFA president. There must have been a delay for it to get to the family,” he said.