Bayelsa mourns footballer drowned while saving flood victims

The corpse of footballer Earnest Peremobowei, who drowned at Yenebelebiri community in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has been recovered and deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa.

He was said to have sank into the water after saving five other occupants of an ill-fated boat in which they were travelling to Yenebelebiri, which capsized after running into the Yenagoa jetty barge and lost control.

The late 31-year-old was the joint top-scorer at this year’s Bayelsa Governor Football Tournament, also known as ‘Prosperity Cup’, netting nine goals during the competition.

One of his brothers, Earnest Komboye, who confirmed the incident, said the brother died of exhaustion after saving five occupants of the boat on Friday.

He said they were trying to cross over to the Yenebelebiri community to check the level of devastation of their houses and farmlands by the flood when the unfortunate incident occurred.

Meanwhile, the organisers of the Prosperity Cup, led by its Director-General, Ono Akpe, have commiserated with the family of the late Peremobowei and described his demise as a sad tale for the football community in Bayelsa and Nigeria in general.

Akoe said, “This is really sad for me. Ernest was a very good player. We saw his exploits at the last Prosperity Cup, where he scored nine goals.

“Even at the finals of the FA Cup against Bayelsa United, he scored a beautiful goal. He is one player we wished realised his dream of playing for bigger teams. His exploits and bravery is exemplary. The fact that he saved five persons before succumbing to the raging torrents is indeed quite unfortunate.

“On behalf of the organisers, I sympathize with the family, his teammates, the football community, the sports ministry, the state government, and all those who knew him in anyway. He was indeed a hero.”