Four-time African Player of the Year, Perpetua Nwkwocha, has lost her husband, Ernest Ikechukwu Nwufoh.

He died after a brief illness.

Nwufor who was a senior lecturer with Nnamdi Azikwe University, Akwa, reportedly died at a private hospital in Awka, the capital of Anambra State.

The couple married on March 28, 2016, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Emekuku, Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, in Owerri, Imo state.

Nkwocha retired from International football with Nigeria’s female national team after making 99 appearances for the Super Falcons and winning on five occasions.

The 45-year-old is the first female footballer to win four African Women’s Player of the Year on four occasions. The former Sunnanå SK star also represented Nigeria at three Olympics tournaments.

At the 2004 African Women Championship, the gangling striker scored four goals in the final against Cameroon to help Nigeria retain the title and also set a record by scoring nine goals – most ever in a single tournament, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the competition

Since her retirement from football in 2015, Nkwocha served as coach of Clemensnas IF, and also her former team Sunnana SK – Both in Sweden. She was also an assistant coach of the Super Falcons team that won the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Cameroon.