The untold story of Nigerian-Vipers SC footballer’s death

His death is shrouded in contradicting narratives. Initial reports indicated that Nigerian professional footballer, Abubakar Lawal, had died in a motorcycle accident. Other reports noted that he fell from a shopping mall balcony. Some have said his body had marks of strangulation, indicating outright murder. As a result of such emerging contrary information, Nigerian famous international player, Ahmed Musa said on his social media X handle that: “Lawal’s soul deserves a thorough investigation and justice must be served if anyone is found guilty.” Police’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has also mounted a probe into this death that has left Uganda’s football fraternity puzzled. But what really happened to Lawal?

Preliminary investigations have established that at the time of his death, Abubakar Lawal had visited his female friend, Omary Naima, 23, at Voicemall Shopping Arcade, Bwebajja in Wakiso district, twice.

The first visit was on Friday, February 21, just a day after she landed in Uganda from Tanzania, her home country.

The second visit, detectives said, was on Monday, February 24. It was also his last day on earth.

Detectives said on Monday, Lawal came armed with his training kit, indicating that he was heading for a footballer session at Kitende football grounds in Wakiso district, the home turf of Vipers SC, a popular Ugandan football league club.

However, his mission was cut short. For someone who was energetic with no known illness, his lifeless body sent shockwaves across the football fraternity.

One account indicates that Lawal, 29, reportedly fell from a third-floor balcony at the Voicemall Shopping Arcade, where he had gone to visit Naima, his Tanzanian friend.

This account further indicates that Lawal fell off the balcony when Naima had left him in her room, which is part of the mall building, to prepare tea.

So, who pushed Lawal down the mall? Did he decide to jump in order to escape danger? Did someone else break into the room? What really happened? In a Police statement released on Monday, officials said Lawal fell from the third floor of Voicemall Shopping Arcade on the morning of February 24, 2025, where he arrived while driving his car, registration number UBQ 695G, to meet his friend, Naima, residing in room 416 since February 20, 2025.

Police said Lawal fell from the balcony at 8:00 am. Police added that he was rushed to Entebbe Referral Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“Investigators recovered items belonging to the deceased, including two smartphones, a pair of open shoes, headsets, a training kit, and chargers, from his black backpack. As part of the ongoing investigation, authorities are retrieving closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and conducting thorough interrogations to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the incident,” Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson, said.

Eyewitness account

One of the eyewitnesses told New Vision that they saw the deceased on Friday, February 21, driving the same car (UBQ 695G).

“On Friday, he was with a certain lady whom I do not remember. The second time I saw him was when he was being rushed to the hospital. One of his legs got broken, and he also had a big wound on his head. His shirt and part of his trouser was torn as if he had engaged in a fight with someone,” the witness, who operates a business at Voicemall Shopping Arcade, said.

On Tuesday, a team of investigators raided Voicemall Shopping Arcade premises in search of CCTV footage that would help them unpack the mystery surrounding Lawal’s death.

To their shock, a detective said they found when the CCTV cameras had been tampered with.

Police detectives arriving at Voicemall Shopping Mall to investigate the cause of Lawal death on Tuesday.

“We have now resorted to using the privately owned CCTV camera footage but still they have not yielded any positive results,” one of the investigators told New Vision.

So, who tampered with the CCTV cameras and erased key footage? Was it an insider game or a well-calculated mission to eliminate Lawal?

“We have arrested the people who operate the CCTV cameras at the mall. They will help us understand what really happened. The other part of our focus is to ascertain how the deceased’s shirt and trouser got torn,” a detective said.

Police detectives also want to find out whether on arrival, there was someone inside Naima’s room.

This, detectives said, will help them ascertain whether there was a confrontation between Lawal and a third party in Naima’s room. On Monday, Police arrested Naima, describing her as a key suspect in Lawal’s mysterious death.

Naima’s account

According to Naima, this was not her first time she was renting at Voicemall Shopping Arcade.

She added that before she left Uganda to head to Tanzania, she had briefly stayed at Voicemall Shopping Arcade in September 2024.

In her statement to Police, Naima said initially she was footing the rent bills, but later, a powerful city businessman came to her rescue.

She further told Police that before she left Uganda, she played basketball for St Mary’s Secondary School Kitende, a school that is owned by Dr Lawrence Mulindwa.

After completing her Senior One and Two at Mutakuja Secondary School in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, Naima, 23, joined St Mary’s Secondary School Kitende, in 2020 until 2024, when she completed Senior Six.

“Being an extra-ordinary basketball player, Naima has been one of the most cherished students at St Mary’s Secondary School Kitende,” a student, who studied with her told New Vision.

When New Vision asked Naima about this fact, she said: “Basketball is in my blood. So, I love it so much. The reason I decided to come back to Uganda was to secure a scholarship from either Uganda Christian University (UCU) or Kampala International University (KIU).”

Lawal-Naima ties

Students and football stars at Vipers SC told New Vision that Lawal and Naima have been highly recognised at St Mary’s Secondary School Kitende due to their unique sports talent.

“Just as the saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together”, the duo became close friends in the name of sports,” a Vipers SC footballer said.

During interrogation, Naima told detectives that since they have been under the same sports management, she first met Lawal when he had come with his other friends at their training pitch to cheer them up.

“Despite being a footballer, Lawal loved attending our basketball training so much. I remember, the first time we met, it was after our training and from there, he and the colleagues became my friends without any string attachment,” she said in her statement to Police.

She added that: “Even when she went back to Tanzania after finishing her Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education exams in 2024, we continued communicating just like any other friend.”

On whether the two were in a relationship, Naima denied the allegations.

“The truth is Lawal showed me care ever since we met, but he had never expressed any feelings for me, maybe he feared to disclose it to me,” she added.

Naima further narrated that Lawal learnt that she had returned to Kampala after reading her post on social media X platform.

“Actually not Lawal alone, many of my friends who read my post started commenting on my social media platforms congratulating me,” she said, adding that later, Lawal sent her a message asking her out for dinner.

“I came back on Friday, February 21, and the following day (Saturday, February 22), Lawal asked me to direct him to the hotel where I was, claiming he wanted to check on me. Because I knew he was not a bad person, I directed him and he came, although he did stay longer at my place,” she told Police.

In her statement, Naima further revealed that on the fateful Monday, Lawal called her again, claiming he was on his way coming from Entebbe side but wanted to take some warm water as he was feeling hungry.

“When he called, he told me he was coming with his sugar and bread. So, I told him it was fine but since I was also relying on the hotel food, when he arrived, I had not yet been served with breakfast. So, I told him to use the available kettle to boil the water himself before I moved out,” she noted.

“I moved out and left him there alone only to come back and found out he was nowhere to be seen,” Naima told Police.

Investigations have further established that at the time of the incident, Lawal was not found with any money on him.

His car, detectives said, had also run out of fuel.

“Actually we fuelled the car ourselves before we drove it to our station. This means maybe Lawal was somehow depressed. Just imagine a football star being in such a situation,” a detective told New Vision.

The detective added that they are yet to verify the reason why Naima stepped out of her room at the time when Lawal arrived.

“We are committed to giving this matter enough time and to ensure that the truth comes out crystal clear so that our partners from both Nigeria, where the deceased came from and Tanzania, where the first suspect came from, are contented with the outcome,” a detective said.

Another investigator said, although no clear evidence has been obtained to support the murder allegations, they cannot rule out the fact that the deceased could have committed suicide or he was maybe running for his life after someone influential scared him while at the girl’s hotel room.

According to Owoyesigyire, Police detectives are optimistic that at least two people could have taken part in Vipers SC striker’s questionable death.

“So far we have one suspect identified as Omary Naima, a Tanzanian national, and is currently detained at Kajjansi Police Station as we hunt for another suspect who is believed to have been the third party at the crime scene,” he said.

Vipers SC speaks out

On Tuesday, Vipers SC proprietor Dr Lawrence Mulindwa met the players at their home ground in Kitende, and consoled them for the loss of their colleague Lawal.

Despite the loss, Mulindwa encouraged the players to keep on the spirit and ensure they win the Uganda Premier League and Stanbic Uganda Cup trophies respectively, in remembrance of their star.

“Lawal has been an exemplary professional star, whom we should all emulate to perfect our talent,” he said.

Additionally, the team’s spokesperson, Abdu Wasike said Lawal joined Vipers SC in 2022 after leaving Rwanda.

“The deceased was part of the unique team that scooped two trophies during the tenure of coach Alex Isabirye,” he said.

“Lawal, who hails from Sokoto, in the northwest of Nigeria, scored the only goal when Vipers drew with Raja Casablanca, at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, and was the only goal Vipers registered in the CAF Champions’ League tournament,” he added.

What others say

Ahmed Musa (former Nigeria football national team captain)

The news was shocking. It prompted me to ask further questions and clarification. However, we discovered contrary information about his demise. The first one claimed it was an accident, and the second report claimed he fell from a balcony. The contradicting reports suggest something suspicious about his demise.

Shama Shanga (acting Nigerian High Commissioner to Uganda)

We demand a full autopsy report and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident.

Luke Owoyesigyire (Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson)

We have recorded statements from different people at Voicemall Shopping Arcade. We have also recorded a statement from Naima. So, we shall find out what happened, review the CCTV camera footage around the place and beyond to trace Lawal’s movement and establish what happened.