Nigerian football player Abubakar Lawal reportedly died after falling from a third-floor balcony of a Ugandan shopping mall.
In a statement released on Monday, 24th February, Ugandan police confirmed the football player’s passing.
Lawal fell “from the third floor of Voice Mall Shopping Arcade on the morning of February 24 2024,” according to the authorities.
Preliminary reports said the footballer “arrived at the shopping centre in his vehicle, registration number UBQ 695G”, and he was meeting “his friend, Omary Naima, a Tanzanian national residing in room 416 since 20th February 2024”.
“According to Naima, she left Lawal in the room preparing tea and proceeded to a game center within the mall,” the police report reads.
“Shortly after, at approximately 8:00 AM, Lawal reportedly fell from the balcony. He was rushed to Entebbe Referral Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.”
The facility’s CCTV footage has been recovered, and interrogations are underway to determine the facts surrounding the occurrence, the authorities noted.
Lawal was a striker for Vipers SC, a club in the top flight of Ugandan football. He moved to Uganda in 2022 to join Vipers SC from Rwanda’s AS Kigali.
The striker had played in the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) with Kano Pillars FC, Wikki Tourists FC, and FC Nasarawa before moving to the continent.
