Violence rocks Katsina, Pillars clash
Idris Adesina
Kano Pillars player Junior Lokosa and an official of the club were reportedly injured at the end of their Premier League season opener against Katsina United at the Muhammad Dikko Stadium in Katsina on Saturday.
Our correspondent learnt that violence broke out after referee Sani Mohammed ended the match, which ended 2-2.
Witnesses claimed that hoodlums believed to be Katsina fans threw objects at the visiting team at the end of the encounter in which Destiny Ashadi's late penalty helped the hosts secure a point.
Sources said the home fans, who were not happy with the refereeing in the game, attacked Pillars, with Lokosa, who scored one of the Kano team's goals, and the official lucky to escape with a minor injuries. However, police came in and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Spokesman for Pillars Idris Malikawa confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday.
"Everything was going well until the final whistle when the fans started throwing objects at our players and officials. They were not happy with the officiating, and after the final whistle, they found an avenue to vent their anger," he said.
"Immediately the fans started throwing things and it was going out of hand, the policemen at the station had to use tear gas to control the crowd and in the process, Junior Lokosa and one of our medical officials got injured. Lokosa actually fainted and we had to revive him later.
"We were later led out of the stadium by the security personnel and some officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission on our way back to Kano."
Malikawa said he believed that the match officials would give an accurate report of the incident to allow the League Management Company to take the right decisions to avoid a repeat of such incident in the league.
Spokesman for Katsina Wale Oye condemned the incident, adding that the club had taken steps to bring the culprits to book.
Kano Pillars Katsina United Pillars