Sudan fighting: The Nigerian footballer who fled in his shorts
IMAGE SOURCE, COURTESY CHARLES COLLINS Image caption, Charles Collins (in white) in action in the now-halted Sudanese league Charles Collins was looking forward to his next match in the Sudan Premier League when fighting broke out in the country on 15 April, turning the city where he lived into a war zone. The 28-year-old Nigerian footballer, who plays for Khartoum side Haidob en Nahud, said he had to leave all his possessions behind, fleeing in just the black shorts he was wearing, when battles between the army and a powerful paramilitary group reached his neighbourhood of the Sudanese capital. He was among 396 Nigerians who flew back to Abuja from Egypt this week, after escaping from Sudan in what many described as a dangerous journey lasting several days. "I am coming back home with just this, just my blanket," he told the BBC at Abuja's international airport, swivelling to reveal a black backpack. "I ran out of my house wearing just shorts, it was a terri...