A Players of the Taraba Football Club were assaulted by the Nigerian army soldiers for protesting the 11-month long delay in salary payment in Jalingo.
On Friday morning, the football players gathered before the Taraba State Government House and prevented anyone from entering their offices or getting inside the premises.
Kelvin Njoku, the team captain, said the state government was deliberately witholding the salaries and bonuses, despite the bailout given to them by the federal government.
The players were resolved to stay at the premises of the government house until the issue was resolved, and efforts of the many government officials who tried persuading them to leave failed.
Rebo Usman, chief of staff at the government house, Col. Wunike Agyo, special adviser to the governor on security, Mammud Abubakar, special adviser on rural development, Hassan Mijiyawa, chief protocol officer, were among the officials who could not enter their offices.
The Nigerian army soldiers attached to the Taraba State Government House then assaulted the players. The sodliers were armed with horsewhips and rifles, according to Sahara Reporters.
The Association of Professional Footballers of Nigeria has issued a statement, appealing to the Nigeria Football Federation and the League Management Company to react to the “inhuman and barbaric assault on the players for demanding for what they have laboured for over eleven months”.
“This is not the first time the players are asking for their entitlements. The players have eventually played the 2014/2015 season which has just ended on empty stomach.
“The Union will take appropriate steps as it deems fit through its legal department in demanding justice and fairness on behalf of the players. The players are not just sportsmen, they are also workmen with rights,” the statement read, in part.
Taraba F.C. is a Nigerian football club based in Jalingo, Taraba. They are playing 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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