The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has commiserated with the family of Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan defender, Izu Joseph, who was killed on Sunday, reportedly by a stray bullet from a member of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Bayelsa State.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick was much grieved when he learnt of the incident and immediately put a telephone call through to the father of the late footballer, who agonizingly narrated the tragic circumstances in which the young Joseph was killed.
Pinnick said afterwards: “I am sorely distraught with what has happened. It is a most unfortunate incident that has brought sorrow to the Nigeria football family, barely a week after we were celebrating victory in a World Cup qualifying match.
“What has happened is most painful. I want to appeal to our football players to always be mindful of the company they keep and the places they go at all times, because they are special assets. At the end of the day, each and everyone of us will die but we don’t want to be losing football players in the manner in which Izu Joseph has died.”
The NFF boss prayed for the repose of the soul of the Izu Joseph, while also praying that God will give the family he has left behind, the Shooting Stars Sports Club and the Nigeria football family the fortitude to bear the loss.
Izu Joseph, a regular with Shooting Stars Sports Club in the just –ended Nigeria Professional Football League season, and who helped the Oluyole Warriors retain Premiership status, was shot dead in his home town, Okaki in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the father of the slain player has narrated how his son was shot and killed.
Reuben Izu revealed that his son, who is on holiday in his hometown in Bayelsa State, was gunned down after coming out of the bathroom.
“Eye witnesses at the scene narrated to me how he was killed and it is very painful for me as his father,” a tearful Rueben said.
“He is a professional footballer who just ended the season and he decided to spend some time with his wife and daughter in the village.
“As is usual in the village, he went to take his bath in the jetty which is a common place to go in the village to have a bath.
“As he was taking his bath and wanting to come out, he heard gunshots and began to run like every other person there.”
The story continues that Joseph Izu ran into a soldier who shot him before he could explain anything.
As he fell to the ground, he cried out to the soldier that he was not a criminal but a professional footballer, even showing him an identity card that he had in his wallet, but the soldier shot at him again.
“What bothered me the most was that my son was treated like a criminal. If he had committed any crime, wouldn’t he have been caught and arrested all the while he was at Shooting Stars playing?
“What happened to due process? Why cut short a young life?” Rueben Izu asked.
Rueben Izu said that the soldiers at the scene used his son’s phone to make a video of him battling with his life before they pushed him back into the river and then left the scene.
He reportedly swam out and was rushed to the nearest hospital but the bullet could not be removed.
He died on his way to a bigger hospital in Yenagoa.
“What I want to know is the crime my son committed. Why would they kill him like that? We need to curb these extra-judicial killings. Why shoot like this? It is not right. This carelessness by the police and other security agencies should be checked.
“Lives are being cut short every day. My son is a professional footballer and now he has been murdered. He was the bread winner of the family. Losing him means we have lost an economic pillar. It is a sad moment in our lives.”
Joseph Izu left behind him a wife and a five-year-old daughter.
