Nigeria Content Online

No
fewer than eight players of newly crowned WAFU Cup Champions, Sharks FC
were yesterday involved in a motor accident on their way to Jos, to
play a rescheduled week 9 Nigeria Premier League game.

Media Officer for
Sharks, Confidence Idaa said the team was initially sceptical of the
trip going by the tension in the Jos but was asked to honour the march
by the NPL which they could not object to.

The players said to be injured include Gomo Unduku, Ernest Tiehbanyo, Odinga Odinga, Fortune Chukwudi, Confidence Idaa, Terry Envoh, Chuks Ezeji, and Kennedy Boboye amongst others.

The latest accident
compounds the bad start to the year in the football fraternity which is
still grappling with the sad news of the death of former Super Eagles
defender, Uche Okafor, who Dallas Police recently confirmed committed
suicide.

According to Idaa the injured players and officials are currently receiving treatment in a private hospital in Abuja.

“We are grateful to
God that no life was lost in the accident, those that sustained minor
injuries were promptly attended to by the medical staff of the team
while others with serious injuries are receiving treatments in Abuja
after we carried out scans and ex-trays to determine the level of their
injuries” he said.

How it happened

Idaa said the
team’s bus, suddenly clogged off the road while on the Abuja Keffi axis
and somersaulted thrice at about 2 a.m. yesterday morning. “The bus is
a write-off now, I cannot say the driver was over speeding or not
because I was not actually by his side but in all we give thanks that a
team that was just celebrating the feat of winning its first trophy in
38 years some days ago has not been thrown into mourning,” he said.

Sharks FC striker,
Victor Ezeji, also confirmed the accident to SuperSport while counting
himself lucky to escape unhurt. “I am still in shock. I have never
witnessed anything like this in my life. I thought I was going to die,”
he said. The player who escaped unhurt from the incident is however
just one of the lucky ones as quite a number of the contingent are
injured.

The aftermath

Sharks opponent,
Plateau United, through its spokesperson said they were unhappy with
the news, according Tongshinung Goteng, the situation in the past where
teams have lied about accidents still gives his teams some reason to
doubt the claim.

“Sometimes you
don’t know when teams are lying or not, we were ready for the match but
it’s unfortunate it had to be postponed because of the news of the
accident. If indeed they had an accident then we are very sorry for
that,” Goteng said.

Plateau United were set for the game against Sharks on Monday but
the game is definitely going to be postponed for the fourth time.