Heartland have called for a retrospective ban on the captain of Akwa United, Aniekan Ekpe for allegedly inflicting an injury on their player, Colin Nwaneri on Wednesday during the week 4 tie in Uyo.
Nwaneri was allegedly elbowed in the chest region by Ekpe towards the end of the first half of the tie and that it took the intervention of the Akwa United’s doctor and that of the Owerri side to ensure that Nwaneri was revived after he passed out in the dressing room during the halftime.
Heartland’s Media Officer, Solomon Onu alleged that Ekpe acted a script right from the outset of the match which was to deliberately injure the Owerri side’s top players and that Roland Kofi and Nwaneri were at the receiving end of his alleged vicious tackles.
Nwaneri never emerged from the dressing room for the second half and that it took several effort for the player to be revived. The player has not started training.
Onu though disclosed that Ekpe’s action was not noticed by the match officials but expressed that the Akwa United player’s alleged brutality acts can be assessed through a playback of the video of the match.