The NFF President, Pinnick, was pained by the sad event that took place
“I am sorely distraught at what has happened. It is a most unfortunate incident that has brought sorrow to the Nigeria football family, barely a week after we celebrated victory in a World Cup qualifier. This is painful. I want to appeal to our footballers to always be mindful of the company they keep and the places they go at all times, because they are special assets. At the end of the day, we all will die, but we don’t want to keep losing football players in the manner in which Izu Joseph died.” he said.
Narrating this, the father of Joseph said:
“He was in Okaki with his wife before he died. He had planned to come to Port Harcourt where I live with his daughter. He went to the jetty area where we usually swim to have a quick shower on Sunday. It was while he was there that the men of the JTF raided the place and everybody ran helter-skelter, including Joseph.
“When the soldiers saw them running they began shooting sporadically and one of the bullets hit Joseph in the leg. As he was groaning with pain, one of the JTF men walked up to him and shot him a second time at a close range despite Joseph’s plea that he was a footballer on holiday in Okaki. His mobile phone and identity card were seized from him and we have not been able to retrieve them till now. The soldiers didn’t allow anybody to help him until he lost a lot of blood. After they left, he was taken to the hospital where he died due to loss of blood.”
May his soul rest in peace, Amen
