Attempt to Arrest LMC Boss, Dikko, at Abuja Airport Fails

•   Police detective fires shots as football stakeholders resist the arrest

Duro Ikhazuagbe

There was pandemonium on Sunday night at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja when Super Eagles returned from Ndola with maximum points in Nigeria’s opening 2018 World Cup qualifier with Zambia.

THISDAY correspondent that arrived Abuja from Zambia with Super Eagles reports that the two gunmen claimed to come from the FCT Police Command with the mandate of the police commissioner to arrest the Chairman of the League Management Company, Shehu Dikko, who is also the second vice president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

There was a disagreement between the leadership of the NFF and the detectives. NFF insisted that the order was not proper as the LMC had appealed the judgment of the Plateau High Court judge.

It was at this point that one of the gunmen pulled out his gun and threatened to shoot anyone interfering with his job. With temper flaring, the detective repeatedly fired shots into the dark airport sky.

Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, and President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, and other football stakeholders who arrived the airport with Eagles intervened to save an angry mob from lynching the detectives.

The LMC has been locked in a legal battle over the expulsion of Giwa FC from the Nigeria Professional Football League due to the Jos-based team’s infractions on the rules governing the league.

The league body appealed the conviction of Dikko and the Chief Operating Officer of the league body, Salihu Abubakar for contempt of court.

Justice I.I. Kunda of Plateau High Court in Jos recently committed both Dikko and Abubakar to 14 days in prison for disobeying his court order. The ruling was sequel to a suit filed by a supporter of Giwa FC praying the court to order the reinstatement of the club to the league.