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"I had to eat cockroaches and drink out of a toilet"

Alex Owumi would be forgiven if his heartbeat is still going at a rate of knots after a traumatic...
Newstalk
Newstalk

20.37 12 Nov 2013


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"I had to eat cockroac...

"I had to eat cockroaches and drink out of a toilet"

Newstalk
Newstalk

20.37 12 Nov 2013


Share this article


Alex Owumi would be forgiven if his heartbeat is still going at a rate of knots after a traumatic past couple of years.

The Worcester Wolves basketball player was on Off The Ball to discuss his harrowing story.

The Nigerian-American journey man player who moved to the USA aged 11, left for Europe after he was undrafted by NBA teams.

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After a spell in France and then in Macedonia where he and his Americans team-mates were subject to racist taunting from fans, Owumi moved to Libya just after Christmas 2010 to sign for Al Nasr, a team from the city of Benghazi which was owned by the Gaddafi family.

Owumi, who has published a book called Gaddafi's Point Guard spoke to Off The Ball tonight to share his story which includes a dramatic escape from the war-torn country to the lows of having to eat cockroaches to survive as the Libyan Civil War raged outside his apartment. 

When he arrived, the team was on a losing streak which had prompted Gaddafi goons to intimidate the local players.

"I didn't know it was Gaddafi's team until I got to the house I was staying in. I saw all these family pictures and portraits and expensive furniture. They told me Gaddafi's son who was leader of the third brigade used to live there," said Owumi of a team that were given more government funding than their rivals.

"Some players were verbally abused and a lot of local players were physically abused. These guys were very timid and scared to make mistakes. They weren't getting paid their money. I felt bad about that and it put a lot more pressure on me. It all came out positive in terms of how the basketball went."

While results on the pitch and the treatment of players improved, the political situation went into meltdown and Owumi who lived in downtown Benghazi witnessed the worst of the violence.

"I witnessed about 200 protesters getting gunned down by military people right in front of my face. As the military jeeps were driving towards these people, I was watching to see if they would stop.  But they didn't. The way they dispersed the crowd was by firing bullets at the crowd."

Owumi was trapped in his apartment with dwindling food and water supplies. Desperation prompted him to eat cockroaches and drink out of his toilet.

"It ended up being 16 long days. I had given most of the food that I had to the family next door. I had to drink out of a toilet, eat insects and cockroaches." 

Owumi knew that he had to get out and a Senegalese team-mate called Mustapha helped smuggle him out. But the journey out of Libya and towards Egypt was difficult for both men.

"Along the way I had many guardian angels. My team president hired his driver to take us to the Egyptian border. It was meant to be a 6 - 7 hour journey. This turned into 12 hours because of rebel checkpoints. They thought we were military guys, pulled us out of the cars and kicked us to our knees. They put guns to us. It was scary. I thought I was going to lose my life. When you're driving through the desert, bombs are going off...it was scary".

Owumi was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and although he has not left the experience behind, he is dealing with it better.

Listen to the full interview via the podcast.


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