Following the suspension of Nigerian sprinter Divine Oduduru by the Athletics Integrity Unit for Anti-Doping Violations on February 9, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has stepped up moves to checkmate the country’s athletes from indulging in the use of banned substances.
Oduduru’s case is the latest to rock Nigerian athletics after the AIU had in September 2022 provisionally suspended 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Grace Nwokocha over suspected doping, while young high jumper David Aya failed a drug test at the 2022 World Athletics Junior Championships in Cali, Colombia.
Professor Ken Anugweje, Head, Anti-doping and Integrity Unit, AFN, told The PUNCH that the federation had always advocated for “clean sports,” adding that they won’t relent in their fight to curb doping in Nigerian athletics.
“Nigeria is in category A of the Athletics Integrity Unit, which means that any country in that category does well in athletics and has a high doping risk. “Nigeria is not the only country in that category, we have Kenya and many top athletics countries are in that pool too,” Professor Anugweje told journalists.
