Nigerian Premier Football League, NPFL, Club Owners Association has condemned the attack on Sunshine Stars of Akure.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Chairman of the Club Owners Association of Nigeria, Okey Kpalukwu, described the incident as unfortunate.
He noted that the poor state of security on Nigerian roads encouraged the armed men to attack the bus conveying the players to Benin City for a league game with Bendel Insurance on Thursday morning.
According to him, “The blood thirsty armed men shot sporadically at the vehicle along the Ore-Benin road, causing serious injuries to a ball boy, players, and officials.”
The Rivers United General Manager said, “The news of armed men attack on Sunshine Stars team came to me as shock, but we thank God that no life was lost. This has once again brought to the forefront the poor security situation in our country, and something has to be done urgently by our government, especially at this time of the year. Let’s pray for the quick recovery of those injured.”
He opined that long journeys embarked upon by clubs this season on very bad roads make them easy targets for hoodlums to perpetuate their dastardly acts.
Kpalukwu, who is a member of the Nigeria Premier Football League board said, “One of the major reasons armed men find it easy to attack and kill innocent Nigerians on our roads is because they’re very bad. Our major roads are in deplorable conditions, which forces vehicles to move slowly on them. Drivers are most times forced to a halt when navigating the very bad parts of our roads, and hoodlums take advantage of this to kill and maim innocent travellers. Let the government fix our roads to save lives.”
