An undergraduate is out of class as he has been sentenced to six months in the Nigerian jail over theft of a basketball, reports Pius Ayinor
Uchenna Ohotu had a dream. Those around him say he always wanted to be a basketball star. He has always been fascinated by what he is able to read or watch about the NBA. His American basketball dream is huge, but his talent is not as huge, and that is why he has continued to live and attend school in Enugu State in the South East zone of Nigeria. But sadly, he is no longer in the state capital or the countryside but languishing in a Nigerian jail where only a handful of ex-convicts come out in a better state than when they were getting in.
The third-year student of the Enugu State University was sentenced to six months in jail on December 18, just as other youngsters and families were deep into the Christmas celebrations. He was arrested over the theft of a basketball from Lionsden Athletics Club, a multi-sports development centre based in Agbani, Nkanu West Local Government of Enugu State and owned by Janel and Alphan Nnaji, the parents of NBA star Zeke (Ezekiel) Tobechukwu Nnaji. Nnaji is a centre/power forward with the Denver Nuggets.
The centre is run under the Nnaji Family Foundation.
It is not unusual for a thief to be sent to jail, but some things about this case have made some members of the Nigerian basketball community raise eyebrows and seek help to get the student out of jail.
They are saddened that a young player could be sentenced to jail for stealing a basketball. The belief is that it would have been acceptable to ban him from the facility or find another form of punishment. But the Country Manager of the Nnaji Family Foundation, Ms Felicia, says that the narrative being shared with the public is a misrepresentation of all that happened.
She told Extrasportnigeria.com, “It was not his first time of stealing our balls. From the checks done, he has stolen more than 10 times. Several reports had been made in the past, but we deliberately avoided reviewing the CCTV recording. We wanted to solve this matter internally. We placed him on ban from the facility after he left the academy with some coaches. He was able to get back into the facility because ESUT wrote the Foundation, asking for a friendly match, and he came in with them under that umbrella of the team. We didn’t want to take this route of inviting the Police but we just could not help it because of how this particular incident happened.”
The speed of the trial and the lack of family or legal representation for Obinna are points of discussion with extended basketball groups. Everything happened within one week, and he was sent to a prison away from the lecture theatres.
“He was not sent to jail in any illegal way. He was first arrested, and he got bail before the trial. Despite the contacts with the family from the first day, nobody showed up for him. They began the threats and reactions after he was sentenced. We reported the case after he tricked the coaches and our security team and ran away after he was caught red-handed deflating the ball and then hiding it in his bag,” the Manager said.
And she adds, “The Foundation stayed out of the process. We reported the matter, and the Police took over, and we only watched from the sidelines. I personally spoke with his mother at length to find a way out, but it was all threats from her and his uncle initially. We lost our balls, but still, we are assisting the mother with the appeal proceedings. We never wanted things to go this far.”
The appeal proceedings were billed to start in the last week of January, but it was gathered that the law courts had not resumed fully in the state, which may affect proceedings.
Uchenna’s mother, Mrs. Obiageli Ohotu, said she had paid the N50,000 fine ordered by the Magistrate on the 20th of December and appeals for help to get her son back to school.
“We have paid the N50,000 fine (Nnaji Foundation confirmed this), and I am just asking for help to get my son out. I thought that paying the fine would automatically get him out.
“My son is not a thief; I have never known him as that, and my family members and his friends can confirm this, too.”
Ugo Udezue played for the Nigerian team, D’Tigers, and he is currently a member of the Nigeria Basketball Federation. He represents the South-East where the incident took place.
He said some members of the Nigerian basketball community in and outside the country are united in an effort to solve the problem at hand.
He said, “We are aggressively looking into the matter. My personal opinion so far is that it goes against all sense of our objectives as a basketball community and a travesty of justice.”
Photo: Illustrative photo of a Nigerian prison.
Extrasportnigeria 
Leave a comment