Keshi’s remains had been deposited at Faith Mediplex where the former Super Eagles captain was rushed to early on Wednesday.
The family’s spokesman, Ricky Aburimen, who had rushed the late national team player to the hospital, told newsmen that the move became necessary for autopsy to be conducted on the body.
He said Keshi was not a registered patient in the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“And as such, his remains needed to be moved to a government-owned hospital for a proper investigation into cause of his death,’’ Aburimen said.
He said the cause of his death should not be a subject of speculation, hence, the reason for the autopsy.
Aburimen, who is the immediate older brother to the late wife of the Nigeria soccer icon, described Keshi’s death as shocking.
According to him, he had complained of pains in his leg for some days and they kept massaging it for him. When he complained of it last night, they massaged it again.
“About one and half hours after the massaging, he was in serious distress and was gasping for breath.
“That was how we rushed him to the hospital (Faith Mediplex), a distance of about 20 minutes.
“But by the time we arrived at the hospital, the doctor certified him dead.
“That was sometime between 11:30 and 11:45pm. It was the nurse that first came out. She checked for his pulse and said there was no pulse in him.
“Doctors later came and did all the stuffs they did, but nothing came out of it,’’ he said.
When asked what could have been the likely cause of Keshi’s death, Aburime said no one should speculate the cause of his death, until an autopsy is conducted by qualified doctors.
Aburimen said the report of the autopsy would be made public at a press conference befitting of Keshi’s status.
Also at the hospital was Ebuka Ofuone, a cousin of the late coach, who was said to have lived with him from his childhood but he could barely utter a word as a result of grief.
Keshi, 54, had won the African Cup of Nations for Nigeria as a player in 1994 and repeated the feat as coach in South Africa in 2013.
He started his professional soccer career at the defunct ACB Lagos in 1979 and then moved to New Nigeria Bank (NNB) Benin City (1980-1984) before pioneering international football in Nigeria by departing to Stade d’Abidjan (1986) and African Sports (1986-1987), both in Cote d’Ivoire.
He moved to Belgium and France where he played out most of his international career joining Lokeren (1986-1987), Anderlecht (1987-1991), RC Strasbourg (1991-1993) and Racing White Daring Molenbeek (RWDM) (1993-1994).
After the World Cup in USA in 1994, he moved to California and signed for Central California Valley Hydra where he made 20 appearances. He joined Sacramento Scorpions in 1996 alongside longtime team mate in the Nigerian league and Super Eagles, defensive midfielder, Augustine Eguavoen and then Perlis FA of Malaysia (1997-1998), where he retired as a player.
Keshi returned to the United States thereafter and started his certification as a coach.
He started his coaching career with the then Nigerian Football Association (NFA) and took charge of the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship, but failed to qualify the team for the 2011 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Between 2004 and 2006 Keshi coached the Togolese National soccer team, surprisingly qualifying them to their first FIFA World Cup tournament in Germany in 2006. He left them briefly and returned in 2007.
In 2008 he signed a 2-year deal to coach the Malian National Soccer Team. He was fired in in January 2010, after Mali’s early exit in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Keshi was hired by Nigeria to coach the national team in 2011 and led Nigeria to win the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, defeating Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final. He resigned the next day only to reverse his decision the day after.
Again on 30 June 2014 Keshi announced his resignation as Super Eagles coach but later reversed the decision after the Nigerian Football Federation renewed his contract.
In July 2015, following Nigeria’s exit from the World Cup, Keshi’s contract with the Nigerian Football Federation expired and was not renewed.
A statement by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee said the decision was made, having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF Disciplinary Committee and NFF Technical and Development Committee, as well as having reviewed the actions and inaction of Stephen Keshi, in the performance of his duties as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, which NFF found to lack the required commitment to achieve the Federation’s objectives as set out in the Coach’s employment contract.
