The Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, has sanctioned Abia Warriors and Katsina United for various breaches of its rules during their respective home matches.

Abia Warriors were found guilty of failing to provide adequate security, as agreed at the pre-match technical meeting ahead of their clash with Niger Tornadoes.

An official of the Umuahia-based club also attempted to disrupt the live broadcast of the match by harassing a crew member of the league’s broadcast partner.

For the offences, Abia Warriors have been fined N3.2 million, while the club’s multimedia officer, Chidera Favour Igwe, has been suspended from all NPFL match activities for five matches.

Katsina United, on the other hand, have been fined N2 million for failing to provide adequate and effective security and for allowing their fans to encroach onto the field of play during their match against Plateau United.

The NPFL stated that both clubs have 48 hours from the date of notification to appeal the sanctions.

NPFL fines Abia Warriors, Katsina United for unruly conduct

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of using the Department of State Services, DSS, to silence critics following the arrest and arraignment of an Atiku Abubakar supporter over a fake letter attributed to the president.

The case involves Mubarak Abdullahi, also known as Sardaunan Samari, who was arrested after sharing a document purportedly written by Tinubu to the President of the United States on his Facebook page with the caption, “ATIKU IS COMING.”

Reacting in a post on X, Sowore questioned the government’s use of the security agency, accusing it of targeting citizens instead of allowing them to express dissent.

“How on earth do you reduce a national security agency like the OfficialDSSNG to a mere vacuum cleaner, deployed to sweep up dissenting voices,” he wrote.

Sowore also accused the administration of being afraid to face Nigerians and account for its record, describing the arrest of a citizen over a document shared online as “sad.”

The DSS has filed a three-count charge bordering on cybercrime and defamation against Abdullahi at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.

According to the account of the case, he admitted sharing the document and apologised, but was remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Kaduna.

Sowore warned that those involved would eventually be held accountable, saying, “A day of reckoning is coming, when you too will be held accountable for your actions.”

Sowore slams Tinubu over DSS arrest of Atiku supporter