By Tunde Eludini
The Nigerian football community has been hit with more devastating news as former youth international Gift Atulewa is dead.
The prolific forward died at the age of 38.
Azuka Chiemeka, spokesperson for the Delta State Football Association, confirmed the sad news to Premium Times.
According to Azuka, Atulewa succumbed to complications from high blood pressure on Tuesday morning.
“We just buried the wife last month; that may have contributed to this development. He has blood pressure issues but he has been managing it.
“Just the day before yesterday, the condition became bad and he was taken to the hospital. They noticed he had malaria but aside from that, the blood pressure kept going up. We lost him this morning by 7am,” the Delta State FA said.
Atulewa had recently returned from Cote d’Ivoire, where he completed a coaching course and obtained a certificate.
He began his career with Bayelsa United FC before moving to Ocean Boys FC and later Warri Wolves FC, where he featured prominently.
He was a member of the Nigerian U-20 team that participated in the 2005 Fifa World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
Sadly, Atulewa becomes the third member of the 2005 U-20 set to pass away, following Olufemi Adebayo and Isaac Promise.
