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By Amaechi Agbo

The League Management Company, LMC, has asked Warri Wolves player, Abu Azeez, who complained on Friday over unpaid salaries by the club, to shut up, Bestchoicesports.com.ng reports exclusively.

Azeez who played for the Super Sand Eagles Friday expressed pain and worry via his Twitter handle on the current financial challenges the players of the club are facing.

In the tweets, he said “Dear Warri Wolves FC
This is actually a cry for help to appeal and beg for our salaries to be released, we have families out there, we have ourselves to take care of. We have gotten responsibilities to settle, we have problems to sort,

“Dear Warri Wolves FC, kindly take a minute to imagine how the players have been coping or making ends meet at home since the pandemic without their salaries

“I shouldn’t do this, but I really cant help it anymore,” he said.

Our correspondent made effort to reach out to the Warri Wolves management to get their views on the issue.

First, our correspondent put calls across to the chairman of the club, Moses Etu between 3:42 and 3:43pm on Saturday but he did not respond nor did he return the call.

Another official of the club who spoke to our correspondent said that the players are being owed two months.

He said that the last salary the players were paid was in March this year.

However, when contacted on phone, Azeez told this paper that the LMC Chairman, Shehu Dikko spoke to him on the phone and asked him not to talk to anybody again about the matter

“Yes they are owing us and for now, me and Shehu Dikko (LMC Chairman) we have already talked and he said I should not talk to anybody anymore. So it is fine.”

When asked to know how many months they are being owed, the player responded “Don’t worry about it. It is fine. I don’t want to say anything about it.”

Our correspondent’s insistence that he should just mention how many months they are being owed was met with “just eemm, don’t worry about it. I don’t wanna talk about it bro,” and the phone went dead.

However, at exactly 1:47pm Saturday, Abu Azeez tendered an apology to the club.
“Dear Warri Wolves FC
I’m sorry for my tweet yesterday, (Friday) I promise it wont happen again,” he tweeted.

While the number of months Warri Wolves are owing their players are yet to be ascertained, it could be recalled that Katsina United are owing their players six-and-a-half months salary.

Dakkada FC since September last year put their players on a half salary.

Yobe Desert Stars, Nigeria National League, NNL campaigners, early in the year slashed the players’ salaries by 75%.

While these players are groaning in pains and agony, the LMC is yet to take action to these scenarios.

Warri Wolves and Katsina United maybe a tip of the iceberg on the issue of months of unpaid salaries by NPFL clubs.

Sadly, players are always afraid to speak up for fear of victimization.

It is obvious from Abu Azeez situation that there are a lot going on beyond what one can see on the surface.

While workers in various companies, organisations or even government can proceed on strike to demand for their unpaid entitlements, NPFL players are being cajoled into silence submission in pains and sorrows with nobody to speak for them.

Some teams in the Nigeria Professional Football League including FC IfeanyiUbah, Sunshine Stars, Warri Wolves, Heartland FC, and Katsina United are owing players, with IfeanyiUbah failing to pay their playing staff in the last six months.