Taraba FC players besiege Govt House Jalingo over unpaid 11 Month salary
By; Magaji Hunkuyi, Jalingo.
Taraba FC players, Friday besieged Government House Jalingo to protest over nonpayment of 11 Months outstanding salary.
The Players locked the Government House gate and prevented workers entry into the seat of of power for several hours.
They also complained that match bonuses for 2014 and 2015 league were not paid to them.
Top government officials including the Chief of Staff Government House Mr. Rebo Usman made effort to send the players out but failed as they insisted that they were not leaving the premises until they are paid the outstanding salary.
Soldiers invited into the premises to send the protesting players away who initially wanted to use force had to changed tactics as the players went violent.
The Soldiers however resorted to diplomacy before the players finally left the premises to their camp in Magami area of the metropolis.
Captain of the team Kevin Njoku said that they were not paid their salary since November 2014. He explained that most of the players had to beg to feed themselves while others depend on the good will of the club’s supporters to survive.
The captain expressed disappointment over the government action of inviting soldiers to manhandle them over what he said was a peaceful protest. He explained that the most painful thing was that the league was over for the past two weeks but they could not travel out because of their financial situation.
The Chief of Staff while speaking with the protesting players said it was Thursday that a report on the problem of the club was submitted to government. He urged the players to exercise more patience as the government will soon address their problem.