Guardian

VICE Chairman of Lobi Stars of Makurdi, Dominic Iorfa has described as hell what his team saw in Gombe during last weekend’s Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match, which ended in a draw.

Iorfa disclosed that but for the prompt intervention of a detachment of the Joint Task Force (JTF) to rescue the players, officials and supporters of the Lobi Stars FC from the hands of the fans of Gombe United at the Gombe Township Stadium, the league would have recorded serious casualties. The Week 15 game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The vice chairman, who made the claim while speaking in a telephone interview from his base, lamented that their cameras and at least two of their official cars were damaged, adding that they also lost their cell phones.

He praised men of the JTF, who rescued and escorted them on a 50-minute journey to Bauchi State.

While threatening that he would petition the authority concerned about the excruciating torture they passed through in Gombe, Iorfa lamented that his team lost to Kwara United at the mid week without Lobi fans molesting anybody.

“I want Nigerians to join me in celebrating our escape from the hands of Gombe fans on Sunday. We are alive to tell the story because of the intervention of the Joint Task Force (JTF). They damaged and seized our cameras and telephones, stoned our official cars, shattered the windscreen of the technical crew’s car and broke the side mirror of the players’ official bus. We have pictures to prove our claim.

“In fact, it took the intervention of the JTF to rescue us and they even escorted us from the stadium to Bauchi State, about 50 minutes drive from Gombe, where we stayed for the night.

“We thank the JTF members, especially the commandant, for rescuing us from the fans. It would have been a different story.”

According to Iorfa, “trouble started for us when we led in the first half. They stoned the assistant referee 1, who threatened to pull out of the match, resulting in the intermittent interruption of the match. They also stoned us and made the situation unbearable that the centre referee had to give them another goal to save his life.

“Let me, however, make it clear that the officiating was okay in the circumstances the referees found themselves. The referee understandably gave eight minutes extra time to save his life. We are certainly going to petition the authorities on the hell we passed through in Gombe.

“We lost to Kwara United during the mid week, yet none of our fans touched anybody. What happened in Gombe was a shame to the Nigerian league,” he lamented.

Reacting to Iorfa’s claim, the General Manager of Gombe United, Mallam Farouk Yarma urged the LMC to check the activities of some club managers in the league, warning ‘that Nigeria league can never make headway with people like Dominic Iorfa in the system.’

He said, “I can tell you that nothing happened in the stadium. In fact, let me also tell you that Lobi did not sleep in Gombe because they did not plan to do so. We checked the hotel and noticed that they did not even pay for the hotel bill for that night.”

When contacted for comments, the Match Commissioner, Prof. Suleiman simply said that she has submitted her report to the appropriate authority, adding, “I have told both parties to take their complaint to those who sent me. I want to also refer you to them if you want to know what I wrote in the report I submitted to them,” she stated.