A football fan in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State, Nathaniel Ikenna, is currently thanking God for not killing his baby after he trampled on him while celebrating the victory of the Nigerian Super Eagles over Iceland.
Ikenna was watching the football match between Nigeria and Iceland, when he mistakenly jumped on top of his 9-month old baby boy, while celebrating the scoring of a second goal by the Nigerian team.
The football fan, who lives on Mba Street, Ajegunle, was carried away with so much joy when Nigeria scored the second goal and he jumped to celebrate, but landed on the baby who was crawling in the room.
The father of one, who hails from Owerri, Imo State, said, “I thank God I did not kill my son with my leg. It was a costly mistake that nearly turned fatal. What will I tell people? That I was watching Nigeria versus Iceland match and stepped on my only child. He is just 9- months old. We had to rush my son to the hospital immediately because I jumped on top of his neck. The next day, we had to also do x-ray. You know he is very small and his body is very flexible.”
His wife, Onyinyechi, said, “I don’t even like to watch football. It was just that Nigeria was playing and I decided to join my husband and his friend to watch the match. Everybody was happy and excited, especially when Nigeria scored the second goal. But our happiness was short-lived, when my husband stepped on our son’s neck. I thank God he did not die and he is responding to treatment.”
I thank God I did not kill my son with my leg. It was a costly mistake that nearly turned fatal. What will I tell people? That I was watching Nigeria versus Iceland match and stepped on my only child. He is just 9- months old. We had to rush my son to the hospital immediately because I jumped on top of his neck. The next day, we had to also do x-ray. You know he is very small and his body is very flexible
Ikenna’s friend, who identified himself simply as Francis, also said, “We have to thank God because of the miracle He performed in this family. You know that my friend, Nathaniel has a lot of weight. Imagine him jumping on top a crawling baby. As we were watching the football match, we did not know or remember that there was a baby in the house. I also jumped where I was seated, when Ahmed Musa scored the second goal. But I was really afraid when my friend shouted that he had stepped on his baby. His wife began to cry. Our happiness immediately turned to sorrow and regrets.”
Another friend of his, Charles Ekejiuba, said there was a wild jubilation everywhere in Ajegunle immediately Nigeria scored the second goal, “But Ikenna could not control his excitement as he jumped on top of his crawling baby, Chidi. We thank God the baby is getting better. By the grace of God, nothing will happen to him. He will live long to take care of his father and mother. We had to suspend watching the match to rush the baby to the hospital. In short, we couldn’t sleep that day because of the baby.”
In a related development, a man identified as Kunle Adejobi, has injured his hand after Musa scored the second goal.
Adejobi, who lives along Alaba Oro Road, Amukoko, Lagos State, said as he wanted to celebrate the goal, he jumped, raising his hands as he jubilated. The blade of the ceiling fan cut his fingers.
He said, “I sustained a fracture in my two fingers. I had to go and treat the injury. A traditional bone-setter is treating me. I forgot that there was a ceiling fan in my sitting room. Immediately Nigeria scored the second goal, I leapt for joy, but ended up with injuries. You can see my hand now. The pain is much. Yet, I’m still happy because we never expected that Nigeria could even score in this World Cup. So, when Nigeria scored two goals against Iceland, it was worth celebrating. And we are still celebrating it as you can see that my friends and I are enjoying ourselves, drinking beer and eating fried meat and pepper soup.”
His friend, Idowu, said, “He is very lucky because the fan would have chopped off his fingers. Blood gushed out. We had to go to a private hospital, where he was treated and we later came back to continue our enjoyment.”
