Reports reaching our news desk say that the body of former Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi has been taken to Stella Obasanjo Hospital, Benin city, for autopsy to determine the actual cause of his death.
The body of the football legend was moved to the hospital on Thursday following demands by the family for an autopsy after they doubt the initial reports that he died from “cardiac arrest”.
Keshi died midnight late Tuesday night after reportedly complaining of “unbearable” pains in his legs.
He was declared dead on arrival at the Faith Mediplex hospital, Airport Road, Benin.
However, after his death, a statement released by Emmanuel Ado, his brother and manager, said Keshi “suffered a cardiac arrest”.
But Ricky Aburime, Keshi’s brother-in-law, insisted an autopsy needed to be done to determine the actual cause of death.
He said Keshi’s nephew, Ebuka, who was with him had massaged him on the leg.
“After that his countenance changed and that was when we rushed him to hospital,” Aburime said.
“One hour after that massage his nephew who was with him said his countenance change and showed sign of depression and he complained that he didn’t like the way he was feeling and called Ebuka and they rushed him to Faith Mediplex.
“But unfortunately he was brought in dead. This happened between 11:30pm to 12.00pm. The doctor confirmed that Stephen was dead after doing their check-up. Since he wasn’t a patient in the hospital, protocol would not allow them to write any report or give a death certificate.
“They said we should go and get the police which we did and they inspected the body and took the picture before they took him to the mortuary. For better preservation we are moving his body to Stella Obasanjo hospital. We will still do a proper press conference as it is befitting his personality.
“We are not embalming now until the experts come and do the proper toxicology on the body. At that point, we lay everything to rest. We don’t want to speculate because we are not medical experts. Only proper autopsy can tell the actual cause of death. He never showed any sign of ailment.”
A group of journalists said they were on the phone with Keshi “for hours” on Tuesday and he did not show any signs of sickness.
Keshi had been due to travel out back to the US on Wednesday, according to Ado.