•Protest by athletes
Athletes representing Ogun, the state hosting the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival, today, protested over the non payment of allowances.
In a viral video sighted by our correspondent, buses conveying athletes to different venues of events were stranded as Ogun athletes were seen blocking the entrance of the Games Village at Babcock University at Ilishan-Remo, reports Daily Trust.
The protest restricted the movement of athletes whose events are supposed to start at 8am from proceeding to competition venues at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Kuto and the Alake Sports Centre in Ijeja.
It was gathered that some member of the LOC appealed to the athletes to take the protest to the right parties instead of affecting activities at the university.
But the athletes insisted they won’t leave this until the governor or someone who can fix the problem met them there or make the payments as promised.
Many competitors due for early morning events were unable to leave the Games Village, forcing postponements and disruptions across multiple venues.
The state government has not issued a statement on the protest as of the time of this report.
The festival tagged Gateway Games 2024 kicked off on May 16 and it’s billed to end on Friday.
Governor Dapo Abiodun, had pledged a cash reward of N2.5 million for every gold medallist from the state, N1.5m for silver and N1m for bronze medallists.
