Odenigbo‘s Family demand 'the truth' from Belarus over death

Published on: 17 June 2021

The family of Nigerian footballer Kelvin Odenigbo, who died in Belarus early this month, say questions still remain about his death.

Early this month, the body of Odenigbo, who joined Belarusian top side FC Vitebsk in March, was found in the Beloye Lake in the Vitebsk region.

Club doctors said an autopsy found "no violent marks on the body and there are no traces of alcohol in Kelvin's blood."

But, 12 days on, the family is no closer to finding out the exact details of the incident, according to one of his brothers in the central Nigerian city of Makurdi.

"It has been an extremely difficult time and the family is not happy with the way his death is being handled in Belarus," Jude Odenigbo, his older brother, told BBC Sport Africa.

"We have no access to a detailed report about how he ended up in a lake and what happened.

"(We are told) He was with his teammates when the incident happened, he never left their sight and right now we don't know what led to his death.

"Who was with him? How did he end up in a lake? Who were the last people to see him? Was there a fight, disagreement or anything that happened. These are the informations that could help shed more light on what happened to Kelvin.

"We only read on the internet that there was an autopsy report but so far they have not shared it with us."

A top official with direct knowledge of the situation at Vitebsk confirmed to the BBC that the club is working to gather more information and to repatriate the body of Odenigbo to his native country.

"We spoke to his agent to give us time because we are waiting for the Nigerian high commission for the right documents," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The initial autopsy report has not been seen by the family, even though the club said that "it was a drowning accident that shocked us all".

However, the footballer's manager in Nigeria, Eddy Ofere, has questioned the official version of the death of his late client.

"I spoke with Kelvin on Friday 5th of June at 16:08 for two minutes and 11 seconds," Ofere explained to BBC Sport Africa.

"It was a bit loud when he called and he told me that he was at a hangout with his teammates, because it was a free day for the players. We chatted about how he should keep up the hard work and fully establish himself in the starting 11.

"By Saturday afternoon I got a message from my partner [an agent] based in Belarus saying he's been informed that Kelvin was in coma and on oxygen. He said we should all pray for him to pull through.

"It's shocking to then read on the website that his body was found in a lake. How is that possible? From being in coma and on oxygen to ending up drowned in a lake.

"Something just isn't right about that version and we would all appreciate the truth about what really happened to Kelvin."

The chairman of the Nigerian community in Belarus Princely Olisa said he and officials of the country's high commission in the region were working to get answers for the families.

But Jude said he could not understand why the Nigerian embassy in Moscow - responsible for the country's affairs in Belarus - is slow to respond to the death of a Nigerian citizen.

"We've been waiting [since his death] for them to act swiftly, but their response has been slowly disappointing," Jude said.

"Now we have no closure, something happened to a Nigerian [Kelvin] since June 5 and it's still dragging on.

"We have mandated that his body should be brought to Enugu international Airport in Nigeria.

"The family is calling on the Nigerian government, well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians to come to our aid in our quest for the truth."

source: BBC

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