Nigeria: Soludo Orders Rehabilitation of Homeless Ex-Tennis Champion

The ex-tennis star was captured in a video clip roaming the streets of Awka, the Anambra State capital.

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has announced the rescue of former lawn tennis champion, Tanya Okpala.

Ms Okpala represented Nigeria in a female lawn tennis tournament in the 1990s.

The US-based ex-lawn tennis star was recently captured in a video roaming the streets of Awka, the Anambra State capital.

She was said to be homeless and mentally ill.

Ms Okpala is a half-caste, whose mother is from Belarus, an Eastern European country, and her father from Anambra State, Nigeria’s south-east.

In the clip, which has now gone viral, the former lawn tennis star was heard lamenting that she had been abandoned and neglected.

She said people often mock her for being a half-caste and that she should go back to her country.

“Even though I am half-caste, I consider myself a black Igbo,” she said.

An unidentified man was heard confirming to her that she is truly Igbo.

“Okay, but you may be one out of five hundred people that say that to me,” she responded.

She looked haggard with tattered clothes and an injury on her left leg. She said she had been labelled a prostitute, and that she would want to travel to her village to care for her daughter.

She was later heard begging for a bottle of water and a soft drink from the unidentified man.

The clip elicited reactions from many Nigerians, with some calling on the Anambra State Government to intervene.

Rescue

Mr Soludo, in a post via his X handle on Sunday night, said the Anambra State Government has now taken custody of Ms Okpala.

“My government will ensure her rehabilitation and fruitful reunion with her daughter and family,” he said of Ms Okpala.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the governor has instructed the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in the state, Ify Obinabo, to undertake the rehabilitation of the former tennis champion.