Deceased Vipers SC player Abubaker Lawal. PHOTO/HANDOUT
The police are tight-lipped on the progress of investigations into the death of Nigerian footballer Abubaker Lawal.
Lawal, who was a striker in Vipers Football Club, allegedly fell from a three-star Voice Mall and Hotel on Entebbe Road on February 25, according to reports. He died in hospital the next day.
When we contacted police spokesperson Mr Rusoke Kituuma for an update on the investigations into the incident yesterday, he said: “I don’t have any updates at the moment.”
Despite asking this reporter to contact him later to get the latest update, Mr Rusoke didn’t reply to our repeated calls and messages on WhatsApp by press time.
At the heart of investigations into the tragedy is a young Tanzanian woman who reportedly had checked into the hotel four days prior to the tragedy.
According to police sources, on February 24, the footballer showed up at the hotel and visited a room on third floor occupied by the Tanzanian female national, Omary Naima.
Naima was reportedly staying in Room 416. The receipts that police reportedly recovered from the room indicate that Vipers Football Club were footing the bills. Ms Naima was reportedly undergoing basketball training classes on sponsorship of the Kitende school club.
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.
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 sources maintained that “Mr Lawal tried to find an escape route and in the process, jumped off the third floor and fell down and died instantly. Later, we informed Kajjansi Police officers who responded to the incident and took the body to Entebbe Referral Hospital.
But the second line of narrative differs from the accounts by the receptionist.
Detectives that this newspaper spoke to said when they received the alert, they drove to the hotel and cordoned off the hotel 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. But they encountered obstacles in securing all necessary footage.
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.
But the statements from the hotel workers offer a completely contrary storyline from 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.
Questions still linger on 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’s body was taken by the club back to Nigeria where he was laid to rest in his hometown in Sokoto State on March 3.
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 return 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.
