The intricate maze woven into the sudden death of Vipers Football Club striker Abubakar Lawal of Nigerian extraction grows thicker by the day. The Vipers star striker, variously described as vibrant, hardworking, and kindhearted and with an eye on investments in Uganda, died on Tuesday morning in puzzling and yet-to-be firmly-established circumstances at the three-star Voice Mall and Hotel.
The complex lies only 3.2 kilometres or 13 minutes drive away from the grounds, where Lawal, 30, plied his soccer trade. It also sits 16 kilometres from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and 24 kilometres from Uganda’s key international gateway, Entebbe.
Deceased: Uganda Premier League side Vipers SC forward Abubakar Lawal. PHOTO/HANDOUT
The Voice Hotel offers accommodation with 76 guest rooms, a variety of meetings, and events spaces with options of indoor and outdoor, bars, cafes, restaurants, supermarkets, and a shopping mall, At the heart of investigations into the tragedy is a young Tanzanian woman who reportedly had checked into the hotel four days before the tragedy. When we visited the scene on Tuesday, people who preferred not to be named because of the sensitivity of the case, detailed the events that unfolded on the fateful day.
How the events unfolded
On Monday, the footballer showed up at the hotel at Voice Mall and visited a room on the third floor occupied by the Tanzanian female national, Omary Naima. Naima was reportedly staying in Room 416. Oddly, it is said another unidentified male visitor arrived and inquired whether Ms Naima was in her room. The receptionist is then said to have contacted their client through a room extension service landline, informing her of a visitor who had come to check on her. It is at this point that an interesting turn of events emerged. The first was that upon learning of another male visitor, Ms Naima asked Lawal to find a quick exit from the room, and he allegedly jumped off the fourth floor of the building.
But there remained queries as to what could have pushed Lawal to jump off through the window without anyone pursuing him, given that the visitor was still at the reception. Lawal had the option to walk down the stairs and exit the building. So, could have Lawal known of some risk his presence in the room could have posed? But the source maintains that “Lawal tried to find an escape route and in the process, jumped off the third floor and fell and died instantly. Later, we informed Kajjansi Police officers who responded to the incident and took the body to Entebbe Referral Hospital.”
Conflicting narratives
However, the second line of the narrative differs from the accounts of the receptionist. Detectives that this newspaper spoke to said when they received the alert, they drove to the hotel and cordoned off the facility as a scene of crime in order to collect clues and evidence to support their investigation. The detectives said their first task was to secure footage of the closed-circuit television to establish the happenings within the hours of the tragic event. However, they encountered obstacles in securing all necessary footage.
A big portrait of Lawal outside the stadium.
The police officers said they then took seven staff of the hotel, including the manager, security guards, receptionists, cleaners and one external CCTV operator, to record statements in a bid to help with investigations into the case. However, the statements from the hotel workers offer a completely contra[1]ry storyline to that of the receptionist. One of the cleaners said he found both doors to the bedroom and bathroom damaged.
This damage could likely point to the possibility of a forceful entry into the room.
Police swing in
Pictures of the footballer’s body that detectives showed to this publication showed grievous bodily harm to Lawal’s face, nose, right eye, and around the lips. His left eyelid was tellingly darker than the rest of the body. Detectives also said both of Lawal’s limbs were broken.
The CCTV operator in his statement indicated that some of the cameras were not working but shared one footage of the front view of the hotel that also captured Lawal’s vehicle, a silver Toyota Rumion, driving into and exiting the hotel on four separate occasions.
The vehicle remains parked at Kajjansi Police Station on the Kampala-Entebbe highway. The receipts that police reportedly recovered from the room indicate that Vipers Football Club were footing Ms Naima’s bills. Ms Naima was reportedly undergoing basketball training classes on sponsorship of the Kitende school club. She had also just completed her Senior Six studies at St Mary’s Senior Secondary School, Kitende. We could not independently verify the receipts detectives showed us.
Vipers speak out
Mr Abdul Wasike, the Vipers Football Club head of communications, yesterday only said: “Omary Naima was a former student at St Mary’s Senior Secondary School, Kitende.” He said Ms Naima used to play basketball for the school but not Vipers FC.
Hotel responds
The management of Voice Mall and Hotel in Bwebajja yesterday said the hotel will go by the police version of the story. A lady, who received the call on a number indicated for the hotel on their website, but did not identify herself, simply said: “We cannot give you any information regarding the incident, but we advise you to follow what police released.” Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy spokesperson, told Daily Monitor yesterday that investigations into the matter were ongoing and police detectives were looking at all circumstances that could have led to the death of the footballer. Mr Owoyesigyire said Lawal’s personal effects, including two smartphones, a pair of sandals, headsets, a training kit, and chargers, were recovered from the crime scene and were being kept as exhibits by the police. He said: “We have not established whether it was suicide or not, but our detectives are conducting thorough interrogations to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.”
BACKGROUND
Signed in 2022 from AS Kigali in Rwanda as a direct replacement for departing goal machine César Manzoki, Lawal quickly endeared himself to Vipers faithful with his tireless work rate and technical ability.
He will forever be remembered for his historic goal against African giants Raja Casablanca in the Caf Champions League re- turn leg at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende - a well-taken strike that secured a 1-1 draw and etched his name in Vipers folklore as the club’s first-ever scorer in the group stages of Africa’s premier club competition. That goal, even when it was apparent Vipers were already out, left Mulindwa and his executive in animated celebrations that now seem like distant memories. Rest in Peace Lawal
Unanswered questions
1. Did someone want Lawal dead?
2. Why did Lawal jump off the hotel building to escape instead of using the staircases?
3. Was he thrown down the building?
4. Was he beaten to death before being thrown down?
5. Who was the unnamed male visitor?
6. Why did Ms Naima tell Lawal to get away quickly?
7. Why did Ms Naima leave the deceased in the room?
8. Was Lawal taken to Entebbe hospital dead or alive?
