March 29, 2022, is a date most Nigerians will like to forget in a hurry. It was a date that gave Nigerians many reasons to lament and blame everything, especially the president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
March 29 started with the bad news that a set of bandits many believed were terrorists attacked a train conveying passengers from Kaduna state to the country’s Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. An undisclosed number of people died during the attack and some were reportedly kidnapped.
Hours after, a terrorism group reportedly attacked the railway line connecting Kaduna and Abuja but this time around, there was no report of deaths or kidnapping.
These happened in a week in which the Kaduna airport was attacked by a group of terrorists. There were no also concrete records of the casualties in the attack.
After the series of bad news, most Nigerians were expecting the Super Eagles of Nigeria to give them a reason to be happy by defeating Ghana to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Recall that the first leg of the tie took place in Ghana. It ended in a 0-0 draw which was more or less advantage to the Black Stars of Ghana.
In the second leg, the MKO Abiola national stadium with a 60,000 seating capacity was filled to the brim which was enough to intimidate the visitors. But the Ghanaian players played with confidence while it seems it was the Super Eagles of Nigeria that was intimidated by the outrageous support available for them.
To prove that most of the players were intimidated and under pressure, Super Eagles goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho made a mess of Thomas Partey’s weak shot which led to Ghana’s opening goal in the 10th minute.
Before the first half ended, the Nigerian players were able to get back into the game thanks to William Troost Ekong who converted a spot-kick in the 22nd minute.
After a series of attempts by Nigerian players to break Ghanaian defense, the game ended in a 1-1 draw which was enough for Ghana to qualify on the away goal rule.
Minutes after the game, a crowd of Nigerians began to destroy the MKO Abiola stadium which was recently renovated for over one million dollars.
A video that surfaced on social media showed a large number of Nigerians doing all they could to use every part of the stadium to quench their anger.
It took the intervention of the security operatives to halt the destruction of the stadium by using tear gas on the angry Nigerians.
At the time of publishing this report, there was no report confirming whether members of the Ghanaian team or that of Nigeria sustained any degree of injury in connection with the violent protest.
Below is a video of Nigerians destroying the 60,000 capacity stadium in Abuja after Ghana stopped Nigeria from qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Angry Nigeria fans storm the stadium, after Nigeria lost to Ghana and failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Abuja, Nigeria.#NGRGHA pic.twitter.com/9lnnZdj4vN
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) March 29, 2022
Venting our anger by destroying our infrastructures is totally wrong. Is not only when we win, we'll be shouting Up Naija, Up the Super Eagles etc. Even when we lose, we should learn to maintain our peace and criticise when due. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/YVNMH158ny
— CAPTAIN 🇳🇬 + 🇿🇦 (@PrinceMerit_SA) March 30, 2022
