Ex-Nigerian star Wilson Oruma suffered attacks from fraudsters which led him to lose most of his wealth and battle depression and insanity.
Wilson Oruma is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in France.
Oruma was born in Warri, Nigeria. He arrived at RC Lens from Bendel Insurance in 1994. A season after being loaned to Nancy, he returned to Lens and played seven matches during their 1997–98 Ligue 1 title campaign. After representing Nigeria at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he moved to Turkish side Samsunspor, returning to France one year later to play for Nîmes.
Oruma was part of the Nigeria under-17 team which won the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championships, captaining his side and becoming the tournament’s top goalscorer with 6 goals. He played 19 times international matches over 11 years for Nigeria and was part of the team that participated in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he scored in the only appearance he made in the tournament against Paraguay. He also was part of the squad that won the Olympic gold medal in 1996, a year after he debuted for Nigeria, and also a member of the Nigerian squad at the 2002 and 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, finishing both competitions at third place.
In 2000, Oruma was transferred to Swiss side Servette, playing two season before coming back to France again, where he played until 2009 for Sochaux, Marseille and Guingamp, winning the 2003–04 Coupe de la Ligue with Sochaux and the 2008–09 Coupe de France with Guingamp, despite them being a Ligue 2 club at the time. He was handed a trial by Cardiff City – a club based in Wales but who play in the English football league system – in the summer of 2008 and scored in a 2–2 pre-season friendly at Chasetown, but was not awarded a contract due to a lack of fitness.
He retired from professional football in 2010 after a season with Greek club AO Kavala.
In 2018, Oruma suffered emotional disorder as a result of how he was reportedly duped by an unknown pastor. He was broke and in a status of mental disorder six years after he was reportedly defrauded by a clergyman and some fake oil businessmen. It was learnt that Oruma eventually lost a whopping sum, close to N2 billion to an investment.
In 2018 an interview was released by the Guardian about Oruma where he opened up about been scammed by people he trusted and hope they returned part of the money.
Oruma stated that: “It is true that I lost all my savings to some people, who turned out to be fraudsters. I have read several stories in the media since then. Those stories did not emanate from me. They quoted different amount, which is not correct. I lost close to N2 billion.
“The most painful aspect of it all was the fact that some of my relations were involved in the deal. You can imagine losing such huge amount of money to people you trusted. I pray for them to have a human heart and return my money, even if it is part of it. That is my prayer every day, and I know that one day, the hand of God will torch their hearts,” he stated.
