Nigerian footballer absconding in passport fraud case arrested from Kozhikode

Kozhikode: The Nagpur police on Sunday arrested a Nigerian footballer, who was absconding after coming out on bail in a visa fraud case from here.

Following a court warrant, the police arrested O. K. Immanual Eukochi, who was playing for Royal Travels FC, a popular sevens-football team based in Kozhikode. Immanual has a large fan base in sevens-football.

The Nigerian was arrested from Nagpur in Maharashtra in 2015 with a fake passport. After coming out on bail, Immanual did not appear for the trial.  

Following this, Kamptee court in Maharashtra issued a warrant to arrest Immanual. On learning that Immanual was playing for Royal Travels FC, the Nagpur police came to Kozhikode and arrested him.

Immanual said he had the original passport with him and that he had come to Kerala to play football on many occasions. After presenting Immanual before the Magistrate at Kozhikode, the police took him to Nagpur.