Akwa United coach Boboye explains walk-off incident against Kano Pillars

Akwa United coach Kennedy Boboye has explained the situation that led to the abandonment of their Nigeria Professional Football League encounter against Kano Pillars on Sunday evening.

The former Super Eagles assistant coach disclosed that fans invaded the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in an attempt to beat the referee and his assistant after they ruled out a goal scored by Nwagua Nyiwa for Sai Masu Gida in the closing stages of the match. 

The pitch invasion forced both teams to walk off the pitch as they sought safety in the dressing room.

However, the game was concluded on Monday morning and it ended in a goalless draw with just a point separating the two teams at the top of the league table. 

Boboye, in a chat with Goal, gave his account of the incident which he said will lead to a "bad reputation" for the NPFL.

"Around the 87th minute, their player was offside and they scored an offside goal," Boboye told Goal. 

"The assistant referee flagged it and the referee blew his whistle. Before we know, the crowd invaded the pitch and started chasing the referee and his assistant to beat them up so that was why we stopped the game and walked off.

"We finished the game this morning and it was 0-0. Such behaviours should be condemned and we are yet to hear anything from the LMC. Crowd invasion brings bad reputation for the league."

Kano Pillars resorted to social media to narrate their side of the story and they claimed they were denied two clear penalties in the match and they maintained their late goal was not offside.

Meanwhile, the League Management Company are yet to comment on the situation, or clarify whether either of the teams will be charged for the misconduct. 

Akwa United remain at the summit of the Nigeria top-flight table with 50 points after 27 matches and Kano Pillars follow in the second spot with 49 points. 

The Promise Keepers will aim to boost their push when they host Adamawa United on Saturday while Pillars travel for a date with Jigawa Golden Stars on Sunday.