''Yekini Was Murdered'' - Says His Lawyer

Ten months after the death of Nigeria's all-time leading scorer, Rashidi Yekini, his lawyer, Mohammed Olanrewaju, has alleged that his client was killed.

The lawyer has also fingered members of Yekini's family as accomplices in his death.

"If I'm to file a charge against anybody it will be against his mother, his immediate sister and two brothers.

"Yekini was forcefully taken out of his house in Ibadan by herbalists and his mother was present during all of this. He was hit in the head with some charm-like stuff before he was locked in chains and taken away to Apete area in Ibadan.

"He was kept there for about three weeks during this time I had no access to him. His immediate sister, Rufiat, later told me he was chained down for this whole period and that her brother begged to allow him talk to me so that he can tell me what was being done to him. They rejected his pleas because they knew if I knew his whereabouts I'll rally round and ensure he's freed from that place," claimed Barrister Olanrewaju during a sports programme on a Lagos-based radio station, Top FM, Tuesday.

"I also wrote to the Nigeria Police informing them about the death of Rashidi Yekini. I had wanted them to provide protection to guard his house (in Ibadan) so that they will be able to preserve any evidence gathered at the house to help further investigation into his death. But the reply I got from the police was that I should arrange for private guards myself as the police cannot do me such a favour.

"I was disappointed after this because I had narrowed down the reason for protection on his property. I learnt on two occasions after Yekini was taken away that his brother and sister came to the house and took away some things. So I didn't want the investigation jeopardised with people going in and out of the house and destroying possible evidence.

"The police didn't do anything except that I was told that his death was circumstantial with no conclusive evidence. I remember that the former (Oyo State) police commissioner had to intervene on three occasions when they tried to abduct him on the grounds that he was mentally ill without a doctor's report to back their claim. He gave an order that no one should try to move near Rashidi Yekini or take him away without the consent of the Nigeria Police.

Yekini's daughter, Omoyemi, who was also a guest on the radio show, cleared the air on the purported mental state of her late father.

"I wasn't surprised (about claims that my dad was mentally unstable)," she said. "This is because people felt living alone was an evidence of his mental state. My mum tried to know why he wanted to stay alone but he insisted. I spent most of my holidays with him and whenever I was due to return to school in Osogbo he would buy all of my school materials and also give me my tuition fee."

Olanrewaju then lifted the lid on the fact that when the herbal treatment given to Yekini went awry leading to his death, the former Nigerian striker was rushed to a clinic in Apete, where the doctor pronounced him dead.

"He was rushed to a clinic in Apete. A note from the doctor said he died of a cardio issue I can't now recall," said the lawyer.

The lawyer also claimed that Yekini had fallen out with his mother over an estranged child brought into the family by another woman who he denied having anything to do with.

A book titled 'Rashidi Yekini' on the late footballer's life is expected to be unveiled in Ibadan in May this year.

Yekini died in Ibadan on May 4, 2012 at the age of 48.

Supersport.com will publish an interview with Yekini's mother as a follow-up to this latest development surrounding the death of the Nigerian legend.