NPFL: Nasarawa United FC defender dies as fans disrupt matches in Gombe, Bauchi

Mr Chineme Martins,  Nasarawa United Football Club defensive player, on Sunday, slumped and died during the 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Match Day 23 encounter  with Katsina United at the Lafia Township Stadium.
The defender had suddenly  slumped at the extra time of the first half of the encounter while the ball was at the opponent’s half.
Efforts by medical personnel at the stadium to revive the player was not successful and he was rushed to the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia.
Dr Hassan Ikrama, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of DASH later confirmed that the player had died.
Nasarawa United won the match  3-0 through a hat trick by Chinedu Ohanachom who scored in the 54th, 61st and 88th minutes.
The unfortunate incident was witnessed  by Governor Abdullahi Sule, Secretary to the State Governor (SSG), Aliyu Tijani among other top government functionaries who came to watch the match.
Speaking to newsmen on the development, Sule expressed sadness and sympathised with the  family and friends of the deceased.
He said government would do  everything to support the family.
The Match Day 23 fixture between Adamawa United Football Club of Yola and Warri Wolves in the 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was abandoned on Sunday.
The match played at the Pantami Stadium in Gombe was abandoned after an assault on match officials.
The attack came immediately the centre referee ended the match’s first half.
Warri Wolves were leading by a lone goal scored by Abu Azeez in the 21st minute of the match when fans of the home team ran into the field of play.
One of the fans attacked the centre referee with a catapult while others hit him with their fist before policemen quickly intervened, pushing back the fans from the field of play.
The match officials and the match’s referees assessor who rushed into the field of play were quickly surrounded by policemen to protect them.
The officials were confined to the centre of the pitch, where they were making calls, ostensibly to give situation reports to officials of the Abuja-based League Management Company (LMC).
After waiting for over 70 minutes on the field of play, two police vans later drove into the field of play to convey the officials out of the stadium.
Warri Wolves’ team bus was also driven into the field of play to take away the visiting team and their officials under heavy security escort.
Journalists, especially cameramen, were also attacked by the fans who made attempts to destroy video and other recordings of the development.
Plateau United Football Club of Jos on Sunday defeated hosts Wikki Tourists FC 1-0 in Bauchi in a Nigeria Professional Football  League (NPFL) Match Day 23 fixture.
The match played at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium saw several players getting booked.
The match had started with centre referee Imam Malik giving a yellow card to Hassan Abubakar of the home team for delaying the kick-off of the encounter.
In the 39th minute, the match was disrupted when the stadium was thrown into a state of pandemonium as some Wikki fans threw stones and sachet water at fans of the visiting team.
The match was then suspended for over 10 minutes as Plateau United fans rushed towards the stadium exit for safety but were blocked by security personnel.
Sunday Anthony had scored the match’s lone goal in the 34th minute, leading to an agitation by some fans of the home side.
However, in a post-match interview, the Technical Adviser of Wikki Tourists, Usman Abdallah, said even though his players lost the game but he still considered it a gallant loss.
“It is unfortunate that we lost the three points and it is our hope to recover the loss.
“We would have been in the seventh position now if we had won, but it is saddening for both the players and technical crew that we lost.
“However, we hope to amend this in our next match in Ilorin,” he said.
Commenting on the pandemonium that almost disrupted the match, Abdallah stated: “We will enlighten our fans and supporters against football hooliganism.
“We can not afford a situation where the game’s ruling body will either ban us from playing here or ban our supporters from watching our home matches.’’
Abdallah, however, expressed reservations about the game’s officiating, claiming that his opposite number was equally unhappy with the match officials.
“I am also not happy with the officiating aspect of the match. I and my Plateau United counterpart have earlier complained against it when we saw the choice of referees,” he stated.
Abdul Maikaba, the Technical Adviser of Plateau United, however, refused to comment on the match.
“You can’t be expecting me to wait and talk to you while I and my boys as well as supporters are being pursued like rats,” he said.