BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
FOOTBALLERS playing for Osun United Football Club and Osun Babes Football Club, on Monday, stormed the State Government House and peacefully protested non-payment of their salaries.
The protesters converged on the entrance of the Government Secretariat in Osogbo, singing and crying for payment of their salaries.
They called for the immediate removal of the State Commissioner of Youths and Sports, Yemi Lawal, who they accused of shortchanging them and other athletes.
The governor’s security aides were seen pleading with the protesters to leave, apparently to allow the governor to move to his office.
The footballers carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Mr Governor, Please Pay Us Our Salary. We are hungry,” “We demand the immediate sack of Yemi Lawal, the Sports commissioner,” “Osun Footballers Are Not Being Treated Well,” among others.
The Captain of Osun United, Olalere Akeem; and the Captain of Osun Babes, Ester Elaija, said the footballers were not happy because of the inability of the Government to pay their entitlements.
According to them, their league is on and they are suffering. They urged the governor to intervene, pay their salary and change the commissioner.
The footballers said they could not meet their financial obligations.
Some with school age children said their wards had been driven out of school for not paying fees.
The footballers said they had not received salary for months and that they needed money for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
One of the governor’s aides who could not be identified persuaded the players to stop the protest and started crying when the players refused to listen to his plea.
Recall that some of the sports stakeholders in the state had last week staged a protest to demand for the payment of their salaries.
They had also demanded the removal of Yemi Lawal, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports.
