El-Kanemi Warriors players have spoken out about their horrific experiences on the journey to Nigeria Premier Football League matches after being ambushed by armed robbers on the Jos-Bauchi road on Saturday.
The incident occurred while El-Kanemi, the 2024 President Federation Cup champions were returning to Maiduguri from Lagos following their match-day 14 (midweek) clash against Ikorodu City.
Following the attack, which injured eight players and other officials and stole belongings, some of them stated that the heist could have been averted if they had taken their long flights by air or on a well-serviced team bus.
“No plans to travel by air as we speak, but we pray they do something or provide a better vehicle,” one of the players who pleaded anonymity told reporters.
“What happened was as soon as we got to Jos, the team bus developed a serious fault, so the management had to hire two buses; unfortunately, it was the bus in front that was attacked. We just started hearing noise and gunshots.
“I can tell you for free that if the team bus had been better, as it should have been, we would not have been involved in that incident that night. So, the entire team is calling on the government to do something urgently about it,” he added.
Another injured player in the robbery said that they couldn’t afford to make the trek again owing to the time of their next home game, whilst their opponents, Bayelsa United, flew.
“Our travelling is like punishment because we spend at least two days for trips like Maiduguri to Lagos. The shortest distances are the ones we will cover within the north, and they are still far,” the player said.
“We usually lodge in hotels to break our journey, but this was because of the home game that we had to sacrifice that day for. We left Lagos on Thursday, and we would have entered Maiduguri on Saturday morning with the way we moved. Imagine playing on Wednesday and rushing to play on Sunday,” the player said.
Despite the event, the club had approximately 20 healthy players (eight players who did not travel to Lagos and other robbery survivors) to compete in the match-day 15 fixture against Bayelsa United, which finished goalless.
Bura Mustapha, the club’s secretary, declined to comment on the state government’s attempts to ameliorate the players’ plight.
“Thank you, but the media officer will be able to tell you anything about that,” Mustapha said when contacted by our correspondent.
Earlier this year, in June, when El-Kanemi won the President Federation Cup at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, they spent three days travelling from Lagos to Maiduguri, where they were greeted by their eager fans.
Before the end of 2024, they will travel to the southwest for back-to-back games against Remo Stars in Ikenne on Sunday, December 8, and Sunshine Stars two weeks later in Ijebu Ode, with a home game against Abia Warriors in between on December 15.
