Obafemi Martins mother has sadly died in Lagos, Nigeria. The striker is on his way home after being granted compassionate leave with immediate effect by Newcastle United. Martins will obviously not feature in this weekend's friendly match against Doncaster and will now remain in Nigeria until after the funeral which is due to take place tomorrow.
Martins missed International games for Nigeria back in February 2007 after his mother Alhaja Martins fell ill and he had her flown to Newcastle for treatment.
The PMnews is today quoting a telephone conversation Martins is allegedly said to have had on hearing the news of his mother's death.
He is said to have been quoted saying:
"Yes, I have heard about mom's death, someone just called me from Nigeria now. Well, I'm going to take it as a man...Oh! Mother is gone! Oh! and...,
I'm working on how to come home immediately. I will leave Newcastle right away to book my flight from London to Nigeria tonight,"
We would like to express our condolences to Oba on behalf of Tyne-Talk and all of its members.
Sorry to hear Oba. Our prayers are with you, although Oba might never read our messages, family comes first before this sport, so hope he takes all the time he needs, in this difficult time.
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