Former Nigeria youth international Ibrahim Babangida has unfortunately passed away after an accident along the Kaduna-Zaria highway.
His older brother, former Super Eagles legend Tijani, who was in the vehicle with him, was rushed to the hospital and is responding to treatment.
The family was travelling for an event when the unfortunate incident occurred, leading to the demise of Ibrahim and injuries to his older brother Tijani.
The Babangidas are a well-known football family in Kaduna that has produced three prominent footballers: Tijani, who is the oldest, Ibrahim, and then Haruna, who is the youngest.
According to a press release by former teammate Emmanuel Babayaro, who is the General Secretary of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), Tijani Babangida and his family were involved in an accident along the Kaduna-Zaria highway.
The statement read: “Comrades! Let us keep Tijani Babangida and his family in our prayers as they were involved in a tragic motor accident along the Kaduna-Zaria road.
Ibrahim Babangida, his younger brother, lost his life in the accident, while Mr. President [ Tijani Babangida] and his family were taken to the hospital. May the soul of Ibrahim Babangida Rest In Peace with God, amen.” Ibrahim was 47 at the time of his death.
The Babangida brothers were on the trip with Tijani’s wife and a domestic staff, but while all survived with varying degrees of injuries, Ibrahim unfortunately passed away.
Ibrahim Babagida was part of the Golden Eaglets FIFA U-17 winning team in 1993 in Japan alongside the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Wilson Oruma, and Karibe Ojigwe.
He was also part of Fanny Amun’s U-20 side in 1995, which placed third at the Africa Youth Championship hosted by Nigeria.
The 47-year-old also made a name for himself on the Nigerian scene playing for Stationery Stores of Lagos in the early nineties. The deceased also featured for Katsina United and Bank of the North before venturing abroad with Volendam in the Netherlands.
Tijani Babangida, who is the current President of the PFAN, is in intensive care but is reportedly making good progress.
The former Super Eagles star was known for his blistering pace down the flanks for Nigeria at both youth and full international level.
He played for Arewa Textiles and Niger Tornadoes in the league before departing to the Netherlands to join VV Venlo after a fantastic showing with Nigeria’s U-23 team at the All Africa Games in Egypt in 1991.
Tijani later played for Roda JC, Vitesse Arnheim, and Ajax Amsterdam before venturing to Turkey with Genclerbirligi.
With the Super Eagles, he made his Nigeria debut against Romania in a pre-World Cup friendly in 1994 but failed to make the USA 94 World Cup squad.
He was part of Nigeria’s Olympic gold medal-winning team at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and also played at the 1998 World Cup, scoring in Nigeria’s 4-1 defeat to Denmark in the quarter-finals.
Tijani also featured for Nigeria at the 2000 Nations Cup, scoring twice in the semi-final against South Africa.
In total, he made 36 appearances for Nigeria, scoring five goals.
As of the time of this report, the Nigeria Football Federation has not yet put out a release about the unfortunate incident.
