A Nigerian basketball player in the United States, Daniel Adegboyega, has been charged with first-degree rape after police accused him of forcibly sexually assaulting a woman in his Alabama apartment.
Daniel Adegboyega, 21, was arrested in July by the Jacksonville Police Department in Jacksonville, Alabama, according to WVTM 13.
The player, who recently joined Jacksonville State University’s men’s basketball team ahead of the new season, is currently being held without bond at the Calhoun County Jail.
Court records also showed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed an immigration hold on him.
The alleged rape reportedly occurred on July 28 after the woman visited Adegboyega’s apartment to watch a movie.
According to investigators, the woman secretly sent a message to her roommate after Adegboyega allegedly made unwanted sexual advances towards her.
When repeated calls and messages to the woman went unanswered, Adegboyega reportedly answered one of the roommate’s calls using her phone and claimed she was in the bathroom.
Alarmed by the development, the roommate contacted police and requested a welfare check.
Officers arrived at the apartment around 2am and reportedly found the woman visibly distressed.
Police questioned both Adegboyega and the alleged victim and collected evidence, including the woman’s trousers, which reportedly had bloodstains.
Investigators told the court that the woman accused Adegboyega of forcibly raping her twice that night.
Adegboyega, however, denied using force.
He was arrested that night and has remained in custody since then.
VISA TROUBLE COMPOUNDS CASE
The case took another turn during a bond hearing when ICE agent Ty Unruh told the court that Adegboyega entered the US on an F-1 student visa which expired in 2023.
Unruh reportedly said that if Adegboyega is granted bond, he could be transferred to an immigration detention facility in Louisiana to face immigration proceedings that could ultimately lead to his deportation to Nigeria.
But Adegboyega’s host father, Ryan Parlee, challenged the immigration testimony, describing it as inaccurate.
Parlee reportedly said Adegboyega spent four years in high school in Iowa and graduated in 2022 without returning to Nigeria.
He attributed the immigration complications to a family trip to Mexico in 2022 and subsequent problems after Adegboyega transferred from the University of South Florida to UC Riverside.
According to Parlee, UC Riverside failed to submit the necessary immigration documents before Adegboyega later transferred to Jacksonville State University, causing his visa status to lapse.
Adegboyega has pleaded not guilty to the rape charge.
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