Players of protesting Taraba FC and Taraba Queens have alleged that they were assaulted by Policemen during a peaceful protest on Wednesday.
The acting captains of both teams confirmed a player sustained injuries after Police shot “live ammunition and teargas” at the crowd and two female players were whisked away in a police van.
FC Taraba acting-captain Nehemiah Ekong said during Wednesday’s protest 115 players (40 female and 75 male) besieged the State Secretariat and cordoned off the gate.
Nehemiah said they started the protest on Monday and as at Thursday morning, nobody the state government had not heeded their call.
‘We’re just here outside the Secretariat, players of the men and women’s team.
‘On Wednesday we locked the gate and during that protest, the police attacked us and shot live ammunition and tear gas into the crowd.
‘One player was wounded and the police picked up two female players, but they’ve been released now.
‘We just want the government to pay us so we can all return to our homes.’
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police has denied that its men shot live bullets at protesting players of Taraba FC in Jalingo on Wednesday.
PPRO of the State Command, ASP David Missal told brila.net that the protest was hijacked by hoodlums who attacked Police officers, vandalized a police vehicle and cordoned off the State Government Secretariat.
‘The claim was not correct and I would like to bring it to the notice of the public that the players have been going about this protest for two days.
‘The commissioner of police spoke with them and urged them to protest peacefully, with the hope that their grievance will be heard and met.
‘The last time the players came round to the secretariat they locked up the gates refusing workers entry.
‘They got a huge crowd to the Secretariat and they threw missiles at our men. The protest was hijacked by hoodlums who attacked policemen and vandalized one of our vehicles.
ASP Misal revealed that the Police only used minimal force to disperse the crowd, and confirmed that arrests were also made.
‘We used minimum force to disperse the crowd. We used Teargas canister to disperse them.
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