The family of the slain Ex-defender of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC), Ibadan, Izu Joseph, yesterday petitioned Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State over 8-month salary and 21 match bonuses owed the deceased by the club.
Izu who hailed from Rivers State wason vacation in Bayelsa State, when he was allegedly killed by men of the Nigerian Army after he was alleged to have been found with cultists. The Army, it was learnt, had marked the area ‘red’.
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased in a letter, signed by Reuben Izu Jnr, copy of which was obtained by The Nation yesterday urged the state government to assist the family in meeting its financial needs.
Izu Jnr. noted that the new letter which was addressed to the Governor was as a result of failure of the first letter sent to the Governor, a copy of which was also addressed to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly to materialised.
He said, “The family wrote the letter concerning the poor handling of the death of Izu Joseph by the 3SC management.
“We have written a letter earlier sent to the governor, that of Governor was received by the CSO to the Governor on 12th September 2017 and a copy was sent to the Speaker Oyo State House of Assembly on the same 12th, it was received by Obayemi in the office of the Speaker.
“We wrote this second letter due to the poor handling of the death by the 3SC management, the 8 months salary and 21 months match bonuses owed him by the management.
He said ” We write to appeal to your Excellency for financial assistance to enable his family (wife and daughter) find there fit out of the hard conditions the death of there father IZU JOSEPH the Nigerian footballer who was murdered by men of the Nigerian army in Okarki town in ahoada west. Your Excellency sir his daughter who is a minor age 9yrs old is already having setback in her education and her mother relocating to the village to try to make a living.
” We are appealing to your Excellency to help us within your ability to enable us train his daughter and pursue justice for our son who was until his death an indigene of Rivers state playing with shooting stars FC of Ibadan(3sc) who are still owing him eight (8 months salary and twenty one (21) match bonuses.”
Tag: Izu Joseph
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Family petitions Ajimobi over late Izu’s unpaid salary
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3sc’s Ibrahim mourns Izu Joseph
3SC’s Ajani Ibrahim has rued the death of the Oluyole Warriors’ defender, Izu Joseph who was reportedly killed in his home town while on holiday at the end of the 2015/2016 NPFL season.
Izu died on his way to the hospital and Ibrahim who disclosed that he was very close to the former Bayelsa United player, said the Ibadan side have lost a rare gem that worked very hard to ensure that the Oluyole Warriors avoided relegation.
“I was pained when I heard about the death of Izu. It was a sad end to a fine footballer who has several years ahead of him,” said Ibrahim.
“He was a good player and was part of the players that ensured that we were not relegated. I pray that God should give his family the fortitude to bear the loss and I will also like the police to fish out whoever is behind the killing.”
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Shock, anger trail tragic death of 3SC’s Izu Joseph
Shock and anger have greeted the death of Shooting Stars defender, Izu Joseph, who was shot dead by soldiers in oil-rich Bayelsa State on Sunday.
The Oyo State Sports Writers Association (SWAN) described the tragic passing away of the star defender as a great loss, while urging the various governments to improve security.
“We commiserate with the management of 3SC over the death of their reliable and committed player, Izu Joseph, who was full of life and contributed immensely to the escape of ‘The Oluyole Warriors’ from relegation in the just concluded Nigeria league,” read the statement in part.
“It is indeed a great loss not only to 3SC, but also to the football fraternity in Nigeria.
“The Oyo SWAN appeals to government at all levels to beef up security in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to prevent the recurrence of the avoidable incident that claimed the life of our valuable footballer, Izu Joseph.”
Former Nigeria U-20 coach, John Obuh called for police investigation into the death of the player.
“Our police should investigate this incident. What is all this? “Can’t a good thing ever come out of our land? Every time comes one sad story or the other,” he said.
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Footballer shot dead in Niger Delta
- It has nothing to do with JTF
A footballer identified as Izu Joseph has been shot dead in an unexplained circumstance involving soldiers at Okakhi community, a town bordering Bayelsa and Rivers states.The Nation gathered that the dead footballer plays his football with the Shooting Stars Football Club of Ibadan, Oyo State before his untimely death.While some said that Joseph was gunned down by troops of Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS), others said the incident occurred during a shootout between other soldiers and hoodlums in the area.The deceased was said to be on a break following the end of 2015/2016 season of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) when the incident occurred.Three billets reportedly punctured different parts of his body.Joseph, an indigene of Okhaki was said to have joined the Shooting Stars in 2014 from Bayelsa United Football Club.Some sources from the community said the killing, which happened on Saturday evening, sparked anger in the community, leaving everyone in confusion.A friend to the footballer, identified as Nyieye, confirmed that Okhaki is notorious for harbouring bad boys who are not militants.“They smoke and drink in the area. As an established footballer from the community, many of the youths usually swam around him and he reciprocated by buying them drinks.“We gathered that some youths had the previous days angered some soldiers but they came when Izu Joseph was hanging out with his people. He was shot three times. Others died but we only heard about Izu,” he said.Contacted on the development, Acting Coordinator of ODS’ Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Osuji, said the incident had nothing to do with ODS.