Gunmen Attack Nigerian Boxing Champion Shortly After Receiving N10m Cheque From Gov
Unknown gunmen have attacked the current World Boxing Federation International Super Featherweight Champion, Ridwan Oyekola, popularly known as Scorpion, with the boxer managing a narrow escape.
According to reports, Oyekola was attacked by gunmen shortly after receiving a cheque of N10 million from the Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde at the state Secretariat on Thursday evening.
Oyekola had defeated his counterpart from Argentina, Lucas Montesino at Ilaji Sports Resorts, Ibadan in December 2020 after which he was decorated as the World Boxing Federation (WBF) International Super Featherweight Champion.
Governor Makinde had presented the check to Oyekola for making the state proud with his victory over Montesino.
Narrating his experience, Oyekola said that it was the grace of God that made him escape death with two other occupants in his car.
“As we left the government secretariat, the venue of cheque presentation, I wanted to drop a friend that accompanied me to the event at Mokola, I just saw a vehicle and it followed us along NTA to Total garden area, and the two men were pointing guns at us to stop.
“I was shocked and swerved the car to escape them but fell into a ditch. The assailants drove off after noticing that the car had fallen off from the road.”
It was gathered that Oyekola was with another boxer, Habeeb ‘Ige’ Oladeji, the national bantamweight title holder and a friend, Adesina Sheriff, in the vehicle during the attack but none sustained serious injury except Oyekola who suffered a shock.
Confirming the incident, Oyekola’s manager and promoter, Sola Ayodele, called on the government to provide adequate security for the boxer, saying the assailants might still be on his trail.
