Ex-Super Eagles midfielder, Wilson Oruma, has revealed how his family members planned with fraudsters to dupe him of about N2 million.
Oruma lost all his life earnings to the hoodlums who came with a lucrative oil deal which actually did not exist.
The ex-Golden Eaglet skipper entered a depression and there were media reports that he even battled with insanity.
In his bid to bring Oruma back from his misfortune, the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, included him as part of the Nigerian contingent to the on-going FIFA World Cup in Russia, to enable him mix up with people from different parts of the World, particularly his former colleagues in foreign clubs.
The idea paid off, as Oruma says he is grateful to the NFF boss and his board members.
“This is my first time of speaking with any journalist on this,” Oruma told The Guardian at his Park INN Hotel in St. Petersburg shortly before he departed for Nigeria.
“It is true that I lost all my savings to some people, who turned out to be fraudsters. I have read several stories in the media since then. Those stories did not emanate from me. They quoted different amount, which is not correct. I lost close to N2 billion.
“The most painful aspect of it all was the fact that some of my relations were involved in the deal.
“You can imagine losing such huge amount of money to people you trusted. I pray for them to have a human heart and return my money, even if it is part of it. That is my prayer every day, and I know that one day, the hand of God will touch their hearts.”
Oruma led the Eaglets to capture the FIFA U-17 World Cup at Japan ’93. He went on to help the U-23 team to win gold medal at Atlanta ’96 Olympics.
The 41-year-old played 19 times for the senior team, scoring thrice.
