Kaduna assures Eagles over safety

The government of Kaduna State has assured the Super Eagles of their safety ahead of Saturday’s 2014 African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifier against the Ivory Coast.

Last year, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) moved the Super Eagles’ 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Liberia, Rwanda and Namibia away from Kaduna following security reports that declared the city unsafe for the games.

Recently, Kaduna has also hogged the headlines for the wrong reasons from a security perspective as incessant attacks on villages in the area by gunmen raised eyebrows with many questioning the wisdom of the NFF in their decision to take a game of such magnitude to the city.< /p>

About 12 persons were killed in Zangang village of Atakar Chiefdom, Kaura local government area of Kaduna state when gunmen attacked the village in May.


However, Kaduna State sports commissioner, Olufemi Adenaike has moved to dispel fears that the city is unsafe to host Saturday’s game against the Ivory Coast.

“We have been hosting international Polo tournaments in the last two weeks in Kaduna. People from Abuja (Nigeria’s capital city) and all the states in (Northern Nigeria) are always in Kaduna. Whoever is having the feeling of fear should take that off his mind as the city is very safe,” Adenaike told supersport.com.

The police boss further revealed that special arrangements have been made to ensure that Saturday’s game passes without any negative incident.

“Security has been beefed up in around the hotels where the Nigeria and Ivorian teams are currently putting up as we want to ensure that their safety remains paramount in our plans.

“The situation will also be the same at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium (where the game will be played on Saturday) and at the end of the day, Nigerians will be pleased at the city of Kaduna for the good work we have done,” he said.

Meanwhile, President of the NFF, Alhaji Aminu Maigari has reiterated Adenaike’s position on the situation in Kaduna explaining that the federation would not have taken the game to the city if it was unsafe.

“We made a lot of consultations and sent our people on inspection to Kaduna. We did not just view the security situation which is calm but also the pitches and other appurtenances at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium and were we satisfied,” he said.