Chasing dreams : 6 Nigerian Female Footballers dumped by Liberian Club DC Shooters, alleged abandonment and Neglects

By: Emmanuel wise Jipoh – Monrovia

Six Nigerian Female Footballers, in pursuit of football, the chance to impress, and the prospect of a lucrative contract, have found themselves in the shadow of the dark, as they are being abandoned by Liberian Female Soccer Club, DC Shooters.

DC Shooters alias the Indomitable Shooters, is Liberian Female Football Club, competing in the Liberia Football Association (LFA) Women’s Division League.

Embarking on a career at the elite club, Grace T. OJO, forward age: 18, Gladys Ajoku sector, Midfielder age: 18, Bintu F Adams, defender, age: 18, Ambaly Sekinah, goalkeeper age: 18, Mary seah, defender, age: 16, and Charity C Naomi, forward, age: 18yrs, have all alleged of abandonment and neglect, by Liberian female Club, DC Shooters.

Speaking to Liberian Sports International, in grieves, the teenage female footballers, said they were lured by DC Shooters Female Football Club, in September 2022, to help strengthen the Liberian side, in a signed contract of two years each, which includes Salary and accommodation but claimed they have never been paid, neglected and thrown out of a family home, of the Club President John Winn, used to accommodate them.

Grace T. Ojo, a forward, who lastly played for Black Stone FC, in Benin, before being lured by DC Shooters said, they were all signed under false pretenses, of a two-year contract each, to be paid a sum of $140 USD per month, but since the reading of the Contract as of October 1, 2022, they haven’t been paid a dime by the club, and there welfare and well-being hasn’t been met, they are left to be stranded in a single room, in a family House, allegedly owned by the Club President, Mr. John Winn.

The female footballers whose salaries have not been paid for four months now are stranded, after they were thrown out of the House, they Lodge, and thereby Suspended by the Club for time indefinite for what they said demanding of their four months’ salaries arrears, owed them by the club.

Mary seah, a 16-year-old defender, told Liberian Sports International, since She came to Liberia, from Nigeria to play for DC Shooters, under the request of her Manager identify ODUNAYO PRINCE ADENIYI, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Excel FA, International Football Academy, Lagos, Nigeria, in a corporative agreement with Mr. John Winn, President of DC Shooters, but Club has defaulted with all of the agreement signed through a two-year contract, that runs from October 1, 2022, to April 31, 2024.

According to Seah, in a contract sheet, seem and in the possession of Liberian Sports International (LSI) reviews, transportation from Nigeria to Liberia, for $350USD, feeding $155USD monthly, Security of $80USD monthly, Accommodation of 240USD yearly, and a Net Salaries of $140 United States dollars has default by the club.

Charity C. Naomi, explained that they have remained in the Streets of Monrovia, after the club threw them out of the Camp, deliberately suspending them for demanding their salaries, She said they have been maltreated by family members of the Club President John Winn, and many times sleep without food, only to be aided by some good individuals and Nigerian friends, in the community of which they reside as the club Shelter for them.

“I am frustrated and tired with the constraints, I’m faced with, no good place to sleep, no food to eat, sometimes we go for games and training hungry, how do you expect us to concentrate on the ball, and play better with this constraints, we are faced with, Naomi said.

But yet, we have been managing with them, telling us, they’re going pay us, and we should relax, but things are getting out of hand now because they ignored our plates, and Mr. John Winn, has been constantly threatening us, that he’s not going to give our money, and besides we are Liberians, and the Liberian Football Association (LFA) is going to do nothing about it, She said in grieves,“ All I want is my money, my Salaries, I’ve played for, I don’t want to play for Shooters again, and not interested in playing football in Liberia again because of this, the 18-year-old forward said to Liberian Sports International.

“I am from a poor home, and play football to play my family,“ no mother, no father, my siblings depend on me to cater to them, “here I’m playing football with no salary, not even a pardon, one cent, I haven’t got from shooters, nothing to go home with and nothing to fall back upon, all we demand is our money, said Ambaly Sekinah,“ I am dying of hunger and my health is failing me, please they should pay us so that we can go back home or find another opportunity elsewhere to continue our playing, Bintu F Adams,” added.

The players, then sent an open appeal to the Liberia Football Association (LFA) through its President Mustapha Raji, to help ensured that they get their salaries from DC Shooters, narrating the frustrated female footballers, all of Nigeria, said they have completed the first phase of the LFA Women League Football Season, and where told they were going get their salaries, before the starts of the Second phase. Still, with no word from the DC Shooters Football Club authorities, they have been left with no solution, but to seek resolution through the Press, to have their case resolved.

The Female Nigerian footballers, also alleged accusing Mr. John Winn, of registering them under a Liberian Nationalities, in order to put a halt to every complaint of abandonment, they said Mr. Winn has been threatening them with Police, since they became, requesting their salaries.

In WhatsApp Conversation with Liberian Sports International, Mr. ODUNAYO PRINCE ADENIYI, of Excel FA, International Football Academy, Lagos, Nigeria, and the Manager of the players, confirmed that the girls were stranded in Liberia, and DC Shooters have broken, every contract agreement signed between the parties.

He said the players, were taken from Nigeria to Liberia, with an Agreement of a monthly salary of $200 USD, accommodations, lodging, and feedings, among other essential needs like internet access, the club has gone contrary to the agreement, after the players have traveled from Nigeria to Liberia, forcing them to sign a contract, worth $140 USD, but yet still default with the payment of the players.

Mr. Adeniyi Prince, said Mr. John Winn, has since refused to pick up his phone and communicate with him since the players begin to allege their abandonment and maltreatment by the club.
When contacted, Mr. John Winn, President of DC Shooters, to have him comment on the situation of the players, his phone rang tirelessly, up to Press Time. Meanwhile, the footballers, remain stranded in Liberia.