Following the predicament that former international, Wilson Oruma is passing through, a member of his family has warned the public not to be allowed to be swindled in the name of contributing money towards the rehabilitation of his elder brother.
Dominic Oruma, a younger brother to Wilson, the captain of the Golden Eaglets which won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Japan in 1993, made the declaration while speaking on a local television sports programme ‘SPORTS SPLASH’ on Monday.
He acknowledged that the former Bendel Insurance FC star has been battling with psychological disorder, but added that the case was exaggerated through the social media.
“To start with, the news in the social media were very embarrassing. Wilson is not a mad man that I can say. If you speak with him, you will agree with me that he is not a mad man. He relates with people very well. Yes, he has his way of doing things and that leaves the issue to speculations here and there. He is just suffering from depression. He is okay now, the family is in full control.
“I did express reservations too about his hair which he left to grow unbelievably, but I can’t control my brother. The photographs circulated through the social media were taken in November/December last year. The family will never neglect him [Wilson]. He is a bread winner and a star to be proud of. The family had a plan which they wanted him to be involved during the last Christmas and I went to his house [in Lagos]. He is a man of his own.
“We also got to know through the social media that people want to raise funds for him and we are opposed to this. We don’t want anybody or group of people to raise money for Wilson. This is all about fraud. We appreciate the love and concerns from Nigerians on the plight of our brother. In fact, the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Amaju Pinnick, contacted the family on this matter. He spoke with my elder brother while in London. Wilson was already taken to the hospital then. We are not aware of any plan to raise money for him.
“There is a particular guy who is behind the fund raising and my elder brother has tried to reach him to stop such nonsense. So, the family never asked anybody or group of people to raise money for Wilson and this, I want to make clear and let the public know the true situation,” said Dominic who also captained Nigeria’s U-17 team to win the 1997 UEFA/Meridian Cup.
The former Flying Eagles goalkeeper, Dominic also attributed the travails of Oruma to inappropriate association.
“He associated with people that unfortunately didn’t help matters. So, he gets bad advice which has made his case what it is today. But he has been getting the best of care now. Yes, he was swindled of money sometime ago but he never told the family. Wilson retired from active football in 2010 and was even into evangelism trying to preach to people and all that, before he finds himself in the situation he is today.
“As I said, we are not seeking any financial assistance through any platform, this idea of fund raising is from selfish minds,” Dominic, a member of the Flying Eagles at the 1999 FIFA U-20 Junior World Cup maintained.”
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