The players of Taraba FC witnessed what could be described “hell on earth” yesterday, as over eleven soldiers brutalized them for protesting over non payment of their salary of eleven months.
The football players claimed they were yet to be paid their remunerations and match bonus by the state government. They stormed the Government House at about 7a.m on a peaceful protest, preventing both staffs and political appointees from gaining access into the premises. Alas, they met a brick wall in the form soldiers drafted into the area by the state government. The soldiers then proceeded to give the players the beating of their lives.
The soldiers who have been keeping vigil in the state capital, were ushered into the government house armed with horsewhips, and the rifles and manhandled the players who vowed to remain in the government house pending when their demands are meant.
While all this was going on, activities in the government house came to a standstill, as top government functionaries were running up and down seeking for way of persuading the players.
Among the functionaries who could not gain access to the government house yesterday were the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Col. Wunike Agyo, Special Adviser on Rural Development, Mammud Abubakar, the Chief Protocol Officer, Kabiru Marafa, Chief Press Secretary, Hassan Mijiyawa and the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Lawal Sani Kona.
The team captain, Kelvin Njoku, expressed dismay at the “deliberate” refusal of the state government to “pay us our salaries for the past eleven months.”
He also added that apart from the salaries, which he said the state government has “refused to pay in spite of the bailout given to them by the federal government,” the government, Njoku said “has also refused to pay us our match bonuses.”
Taraba F.C. is a Nigerian football club based in Jalingo, Taraba. They play in the top-tier division in Nigerian football, the Nigeria Premier League after promotion in 2013. Until 2007, they were based in Abuja and were named SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) Football Club
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