Shanghai Shenhua’s Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins has launched his charity campaign in Lagos by donating over 5,000 wheelchairs and crutches to special athletes at the National Stadium in Surulere.
The wheelchairs and crutches, valued at tens of millions of naira, will also be given to physically challenged non-athletes in Surulere, Orile Iganmu, Lagos Island and Yaba.
According to a representative of Martins, 2000 wheelchairs and 3000 crutches were distributed to special athletes in the first phase of the charity work in Lagos.
The manager of the Obafemi Martins Foundation, Deji Olusesan, told newsmen that the first set of beneficiaries for the wheelchairs were the Paralympians who represented Nigerian at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.
“Giving out these items is nothing to Martins because God has blessed him and he has also made a pledge to always give back to the society,” Olusesan told newsmen on Wednesday.
“The first phase of this donation is on now, while the second phase will be in April. Aside from these wheelchairs, some relief materials will be donated specially to the physically challenged.”
Martins, who has played for the Super Eagles, Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Wolfsburg, Rubin Kazan, Levante and Seattle Sounders before making a big money move to Shanghai Shenhua in China, has often donated money to orphanages and the sick who cannot afford their hospital bills.
