Football family in mourning as devoted fan killed in Riverside attack

The Kenyan football fraternity has been hit with a blow following news of the death of James Oduor alias Cobra, who was among those killed in the Riverside terror attack on Tuesday.

Cobra, whose birthday was coincidentally on Wednesday, was trapped in the offices on Tuesday evening when the attacks began. He worked at LG Company in the Customer Service Department situated at 14 Riverside.

“Waaaah. What’s happening at 14 Riverside fam? Any news from out there?” Cobra wrote in a tweet at 4:30pm on Tuesday, the day of the attack. “Gunshots and non-stop explosions” read a subsequent tweet from him.

Cobra was a vibrant Sports enthusiast, a member of Kisumu All Starlets and a Manchester United fan. Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has led the sports fraternity in taking it to twitter to mourn the loss of a great football enthusiast.

“Fare thee well my friend. Your good spirit will live on in football. You did your part. We shall do ours and remember you,” Mwendwa tweeted.

The Kenyan Manchester United family has also joined everyone in mourning Cobra. “It’s with deep sorrow and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of one James Oduor Cobra. He was a Manchester United fan, and a football player for Manchester United Kenya Team. We lost him through the attack at Riverside. We pray that his soul rests in peace. RIP,” read a tweet by Man United Kenya.

It’s with deep sorrow and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of one James Oduor Cobra. He was a Manchester United fan, and a football player for Manchester United Kenya Team. We lost him through the attack at Riverside. We pray that his soul rests in peace. RIP pic.twitter.com/jzuuhU4tKQ

— ManUtd ?? (@_ManUtdKE) January 16, 2019

“We regret the loss of James Odour alias Cobra aka Otike a member of the Kisumu All Starlets football team who perished during the Riverside attack. Odour lost his life on his birthday. His death is a loss to the sports fraternity and Kisum county a whole #WeShallOvercome,” The Kisumu county twitter account posted.

We regret the loss of James Odour allias Cobra aka Otike a member of the Kisumu All Starlets football team who also perished during the Riverside attack. Odour lost his life on his birthday. His death is a loss to Kisumu sports Fraternity and the county as awhole #WeShallOvercome pic.twitter.com/aciOwSPxe3

— Kisumu County (@KisumuCountyKE) January 16, 2019