Pillars shoots to the top of NPL as Rangers suffers defeat

Kano Pillars on Wednesday evening defeated Akwa United by a lone goal to move to the summit of the Nigerian Premier League table. The 2008 league champions are now on top of the table with a total of 64 points from 37 matches while Lobi Stars are second with 63 points. Lobi Stars hammered Enugu Rangers by three goals to nil in Katsina-Ala on the same day. Enugu Rangers are now third on the table with 61 points and they must win their last league match and hope that Lobi Stars do not win while Kano Pillars lose. Enugu Rangers have not won any trophy since 1984/85 season.
Meanwhile, Jigawa Golden stars defeated Enyimba FC by 1-0 in Hadejia to further compound the woes of the former champions. Warri Wolves also ended the title aspirations of Shooting Stars of Ibadan after a 1-0 win.

Violence in the Nigeria Premier League!

The increasing number of crowd violence in the Nigeria Premier League should be cause of worry for the League organizers. The 11 weeks old League has witness series of crowd troubles this season. Ocean Boys of Brass denied the technical crew of Super Sport, a subsidiary of Multi Choice Nigeria Limited were prevented from covering one of their home games. They eventually harassed the technical crew of the cable TV company that has the exclusive TV right for this competition. In Gombe, Gombe United injured several players and officials of Heartland FC because the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Thereafter, supporters of Kwara United FC attacked players and officials of Sunshine Stars FC because the game ended in a 1-1 draw and that the referee didn't help them to win the match. The latest chaos in the League happened in Kano,Northern Nigeria on Wednesday. Kano Pillars won the League in 2008 but have been on the downward trend since their remarkable Champions League campaign in 2009. Pillars played a one all draw at home to visiting Heartland FC of Owerri. Immediately after the encounter hell was let loose by the home fans who rallied to beat the referee and every one that was associated with the  visiting team. The police men and other military officers had to shoot into the air before they rescued the visitors. Osas Okoro was one of the several players that were fatally injured. One of the assistant coaches of the team was stoned in the head.

Nigerian Champions shocked by newly promoted side.

Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt received a shocker in the hands of ABS FC of Ilorin in a rescheduled Nigerian Premier League match that was in an empty stadium. Fans were banned from watching matches at the stadium by the League organizers after a crowd violence that occurred in the match between Kwara United and Sunshine Stars of Akure at the same venue last weekend. ABS FC that is bank-rolled by former Kwara State governor, Abubakar Bukola Saraki claimed a 2-0 win over the CAF Champions League representatives. Dolphins are now 4th on the log standings and they are 4 points behind Enugu Rangers that are at the summit of the League.
Meanwhile, another crowd violence was witnessed in Kano as fans of the home team invaded the pitch and beat up the centre referee, players and officials of Heartland FC of Owerri in another rescheduled match that was played at the Sani Abacha stadium in Kano. The match eventually ended in a 1-1 draw. The visitors opened the scoring in the first half before Kano Pillars grabbed a second half equaliser to force the Federation Cup Champions to a 1-1 draw. Heartland FC also suffered a similar fate when they played a 2-2 draw in Gombe.