There were scenes of shock and disbelief on Friday at the Sharks FC Stadium, Port Harcourt during the Round of 32 Federation Cup game between Akwa United and Dynamite Force as the Akwa captain, Nnamso Edo assaulted centre referee, Felix Eliozu Chituru. 

The incident which occurred in the 86th minute saw the Akwa United skipper slap the referee across the back of the neck shortly after he turned down the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) club’s appeals for a penalty. 

Akwa United were down to nine players at that point after two of their players, Ottobong Effiong and Monday Osagie had received red cards in the second half for second bookable offences. 

 

Edo tried to explain his actions at the final whistle, insisting that his side did not deserve to lose and claiming that Dynamite received unfair assistance from the referee. 

“The referee was unfair in this game. The coach of Dynamite Force is a staff of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and so the referee tried to help his side,” Edo told SuperSport.com at the final whistle. 

The player however stated that Akwa United will now turn their focus on the league. 

“We have been doing well in the league and now we just have to get good results in our remaining games to see that we put smiles on the faces of our fans at the end of the season,” he stated.