Taraba FC protest over unpaid salaries

Players of Taraba State Football Club are unhappy and have staged a peaceful protest over the non-payment of their salaries for over eight months.
The players who staged a peaceful demonstration on Monday and Tuesday at the Taraba Stadium in Jalingo, has vowed to quit the Club immediately the State Government pays them their pending salaries.

Speaking to Extra Time on the protest, spokesmen of the Club, Mr. Ajiga Isaac and Yusuf Usman Dadiga said they decided to lock the gate of the Stadium in order to show their grievances over the inhuman treatment meted out to them by the State Government under the leadership of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku for refusing to pay their salaries of over N17m.

A lady from the female team who pleaded anonymity explained that, she has not visited her parents for over two years now due to financial constraints, saying that it is difficult for many of them to even eat twice daily.

She alleged that the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Darius on Media and Publicity Mr. Silvanus Giwa had on Monday, July 15, 2017 gone to the Stadium where they gathered and attempted to use the Police to arrest their leaders. This situation according to her led to some of them getting injured and she expressed dismay over the incident and urged the state government to settle them.

When contacted through a phone call, the SA to the Governor Mr. Silvanus Giwa did not picked the call and an SMS was sent to him in respect of the allegation was not replied by him as at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, commenting on the matter through a telephone interview, Taraba State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Pastor Gambo Nbafor ,attributed the delay in paying the players’ salaries to lack of funds as a result of the economic recession the country found itself, adding that the State Governor has much interest on youths and promised that within a short period they will be paid.