Update: Shooting Stars striker Odeyemi out with toe injury after being beaten up by soldiers, player speaks

Barely 24 hours after his ordeal at the hands of members of the Nigerian army, Shooting Stars striker Ebenezer Odeyemi has provided an update on his health condition. The player in a tweet on Wednesday stated that he is fine, but will temporarily be on the sidelines for his club.

Odeyemi and three of his teammates: Adekunle Adeniyi, Sochima Elum and Chimamkpa Onwubuchie, were on Tuesday, approached and assaulted by military officers while having their dinner at a nearby canteen after the club's training session.

The former MFM striker was, according to a video he shared on his social media platform Twitter, the most brutalized of the four players. 

After receiving medical examination for bodily injuries he sustained on his face and feet, Odeyemi on Wednesday shared a message from his hospital bed, stating that he is feeling okay.

"I would like to thank everyone for sweet and amazing greetings and your messages even outside Nigeria. I'm getting better but the injury is unbearable", he wrote on his Twitter page @odeyemiebeneze.

"I'm fine but I feel some pains beyond the surface of the injuries/bruises and I've examined myself this morning at a hospital with the club management.

"I want to specially thank the retired military man and his wife. He stood like a father, his wife did very as well. I appreciate them.

"Big thanks to Shooting Stars management and my teammates, I'm overwhelmed with their love and attention. I understand how you feel at the moment but we have to thank God because I'm still alive.

"I won't be available for the Kano Pillars match this weekend, my focus is to get back on the pitch as soon as possible and support the team with prayers.

To our fans, I so much appreciate your calls. We need your prayers and please continue to support us every day. Up Sootin!"

Odeyemi is not the first Nigerian League player to be assaulted or brutalized by Nigerian security forces.

Remo Stars assistant captain Kazeem Tiamiyu was in 2020, killed after being illegally detained by the members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) - a unit of the Nigeria Police Force.

The 21-year-old, who played in defence for Remo Stars, was crushed by an oncoming vehicle on the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway after reportedly being pushed out of a SARS vehicle while being taken to their office. 

Although the police claimed Tiyamiyu jumped out of the vehicle, his death sparked a protest march - demanding justice and for SARS to be disbanded - by thousands of residents in Sagamu, just 50km north-east of commercial capital, Lagos.

Tiyamiyu's incident came four years after another footballer, Izu Joseph: of Shooting Stars, was hit by a stray bullet when gunmen attacked a market in his hometown of Okaki in Rivers State.