A security alarm has been sounded ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier between Nigerian and Swaziland in Port Harcourt, as residents in The Garden City are scared of the possibility of pro-Biafra protesters using the match to draw international attention to their plight.
Information gathered on authority at the weekend, informed an emergency meeting of the local organizing committee for Tuesday’s match, which continues holding long deliberations over security issues affecting the game.
The first of such meetings, which ran late into the night on Saturday, centered basically on how security operatives and other safety personnel would be marshaled to ensure peace reigns in Port Harcourt, before, during and after the game billed for Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium.
SportsDay gathered further that the fear of pro-Biafra protests has engulfed Port Harcourt since the past week, as several flashpoints had occurred in the awake of the recent arrest of a leading member of the group.
The protests have occasioned a dent in socio-economic activities in the usually boisterous oil-rich Garden City, as people are now living in apprehension of a violent upheaval.
Pro-Biafra protesters shut down Port Harcourt last week - CopyFear of the unknown reached a highpoint early Saturday, when the Super Eagles arrived from Swaziland aboard a chartered flight, following their dull goalless draw in Friday’s first leg.
While the Eagles were rushed to Hotel Presidential for their abode into and beyond Tuesday’s match, the LOC, headed by Bonin Iyayi, got busy with deliberations to ensure safety for the players and crew as well as seeking suggestions on ways of installing beefed-up security measures to prevent violence during the match.
However, the LOC is facing some internal issues of its own, as SportsDay learnt from a credible source that co-opted members of the committee have not been paid their allowances and have threatened a showdown with the body’s leadership.
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