At least one player was left injured as suspected robbers attacked the team bus of Nigeria Professional Football League champions Enyimba on Thursday.
The two-time African champions were on their way from Jos after their match-day 25 fixture against Adamawa United at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe, on Wednesday.
Our correspondent learnt the attack took place along the Enugu-Okigwe-Umuahia Expressway in Imo State.
Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, who confirmed the attack to our correspondent on the telephone, said the team have arrived Aba.
“I was not there, but from what I was briefed, they ran into an attack around Okigwe and robbers smashed their bus glass and it scattered and injured a player inside the bus. They are safe, they are back in Aba.
“The person that the glass affected had some bruises and was bleeding.
“They left from Jos this morning, I think the road was rough and they got to Okigwe late. The attack happened around 7:45pm,” Anyansi-Agwu told The PUNCH.
Enyimba had defeated Adamawa 2-0 away from home on Wednesday, before the League Management Company postponed the NPFL due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Aba-based side suffered a similar attack near Okene, Kogi State in 2016 while on their way to Kaduna for the Super Four Tournament, a pre-season championship organised for the top four clubs in the league.
Players and officials, who ran to the bush before being rescued by policemen, were robbed of their valuables, including phones, passports and cash.
In 2015 a bus attack had five Kano Pillars players shot whilst travelling to Owerri.
Last November, a bus transporting FC IfeanyiUbah was also attacked by armed robbers, leaving several players critically injured.
Pictures showed one bullet passed through the centre of the bus windscreen, with the driver shot, while some members of the coaching crew and players suffered varying degrees of injuries.
Due to the economic issues in Nigeria, clubs have been forced to make longer journeys by road in order to reduce costs.
