"You could see the fear": Trapped Nigerian winger Solomon-Otabor reveals how scary fleeing Ukraine was

While many still struggle to escape from conflict-stricken Ukraine, Nigerian winger Viv Solomon-Otabor has revealed that he is one of the few to have found a way out but shared that the experience of fleeing, was harrowing.

Born in England, but to Nigerian parents, Solomon-Otabor was one of many Nigerians trapped in Ukraine as Russia invaded the sovereign nation earlier this week.

The 26-year-old former Wigan winger joined Rukh Lviv in January but kissed his Ukrainian career goodbye after just two months after Vladimir Putin's soldiers seized the Eastern European country.

Now back in the United Kingdom following Russia's invasion, Solomon-Otabor described the horrifying experience, explaining how others were not so fortunate in their attempts to flee as Russia's continued to wreak havoc on Ukraine.

"There was just a lot of cars, a lot of people, a lot of lorries. They were obviously trying to get back. Some got told to turn around which was not nice to see", Solomon-Otabor said while speaking in an interview with Sky Sports on his return to the UK.

"There was a lot of cars. Everybody was just calm but you could see the fear in their faces.

"You could see that fear as they were trying to get out."

As a result of joining during Ukraine's winter break, Solomon-Otabor was yet to make an appearance for his new team: Rukh Lviv.

The player who was an unused substitute for the Super Eagles in October 2019 was just one, of six Nigerian footballers affected by Russia-Ukraine tensions.

Solomon-Otabor is not the only footballer who has so far managed to escape Ukraine.

Three Brazilian footballers who play for Ukrainian Premier Liga club SK Dnipro-1 revealed on social media on Saturday that, they fled the war-torn nation and crossed the border into Romania. Gabriel Busanello, Bill and Felipe Pires all posted messages informing family and fans that they were safe.

At the start of the conflict, a group of players from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv posted a video together with their families from a hotel where they called for support from the Brazilian authorities, joined by Uruguayan player Carlos de Pena of Dynamo. The video was reposted by Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar on his Instagram account.

Solomon-Otabor was born in London to parents originally from Edo State, Nigeria and is the nephew of ex-Nigerian international, Thompson Oliha.

His father, Victor-Banks Otabor, played for Nigeria National League (NNL) side Bendel Insurance, and defunct NNPC and Eagle Oil.