Enyimba Condemn Attack On Their Supporter

Enyimba International Football Club has strongly condemned the violent attack on one of their supporters after the Matchday 11 Glo Premier League game against Sharks FC in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

The Head of Media of Enyimba, Farriel Allaputa revealed this in an interview with SportingLife stating: “Our supporter suffered six stab wounds in an attack that occurred just after the game, lost massive amounts of blood and required urgent medical attention.

“As a club we condemn this violent assault completely and call on the League Management Company to take strong actions against such abhorrent behaviour. Nigerian football has come a long way and this show of shame and barbarity has no place at all in the Glo Premier League.”

Sharks and Enyimba played out a 1-1 draw on the afternoon inside the Sharks Stadium with Ajani Ibrahim firing Sharks in front after a quarter of an hour gone. Andrew Abalogu then brought Enyimba back into the tie with his 28th minute strike to ensure the visitors leave with a share of the spoils.

But the fixture became marred by violence after the final whistle when angry Sharks fans attacked the Enyimba supporter outside the stadium, stabbing him multiply.

Allaputa said: “Our resolve and commitment towards a bigger and better Nigerian Professional Football League remains very strong and we will continue to denounce all actions that undermine the league.

“To this end, the management of Sharks as well as the Head Coach of Sharks have to do more to ensure that they do not incite their fans to violence by their actions or comments during and after matches.

“Ogunbote accused the match officials of bias and now it appears there is pattern and he is quick to cry foul and bring the game to disrepute when results don’t go his way. Sharks won away at Kaduna United, no one was hurt and the referee was good. They returned to Port Harcourt and defeated El Kanemi with two penalties again, the match officials were good. Now his team have been held to a draw and all of a sudden the match officials are bad and have singled Sharks out?

“These sort of utterances are bad for our football and he has to learn to accept results fairly. Football is not a game where you must win so Ogunbote must learn to exercise caution because these are the sort of comments that incite fans.”

Meanwhile, Sharks have alleged that the attack on the fan of Enyimba was premeditated and that the sad episode happened outside the stadium about 30 minutes after the conclusion of the league tie between both clubs.

The Blue Angels’ Media Officer, Peter Abaje told SportingLife that since the fan had no role to play in what transpired in the pitch throughout the entire duration of the match, it was impossible for Sharks’ supporters to beat him up and that the home supporters greeted and hugged one another after the match in a show of sportsmanship.

Abaje denied the alleged attack.

“We were having the post-match press conference when a fan of Enyimba ran towards where the journalists were and started shouting he had been stabbed by Sharks’ supporters. This event took place about 30 minutes after the match and our supporters who were seen exchange pleasantries with Enyimba supporters after the match had left the stadium 20 minutes after the encounter.

“The stadium was virtually empty by the time this alleged fan ran back from outside the stadium back into the stadium. This has raised many questions because this person has no direct involvement with the just concluded match. The match officials who practically handed a point to Enyimba were not assaulted after the match. It beats our imagination that an Enyimba fan who alleged that he was stabbed.

“The information I gathered was that the fan was not at the stadium and that he just came into the stadium to perform a pre-meditated action,” Abaje told SportingLife.