Family of dead referee wants investigation of death stopped

    
The Nigeria Referees Association on Friday said it had stopped further investigations into the death of one of its members, Osita Nwadiashi, who died during the body’s compulsory annual fitness test.

It would be recalled that Nwadiashi slumped and died on Nov. 6 at the National Stadium, Abuja, during the 2013 pre-season fitness test for the nation’s referees.

The NRA President, Ahmed Maude, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that the relations of the deceased referee prevented them from carrying out an autopsy on the corpse.

However, the Referees Committee of the Nigeria Football Association insisted that the referee had lied about his health status, which contradicted the medical report he presented.

The NRA president added that it was on the basis of the contrasting report that the body decided to investigate the doctor that issued the fitness certificate to late Nwadiashi.

“By now, we should have come up with something tangible with regard to the investigations into the circumstances that led to Nwadiashi’s death.

“But we have stopped because the family members said they don’t want a post-mortem on his corpse.

“They also said we should stop our enquiries about the doctor that certified him fit to participate in the test, that they have accepted his death in good faith.

“Rather, they demanded that we release the corpse to them which we did two weeks ago.

“We took his corpse to his village, Ogwashi-Uku, Delta, where they told us he will be buried.

“So, I am sure he would have been laid to rest in his home town by now,” Maude said.

NAN