Police Interrupt Enyimba's Training After Bad Loss

The struggle at Enyimba, Nigeria's nine-time Premier Football League champions, got worse on Monday. Daniel Eke, the club's sporting director, showed up at the team's training with some Nigerian Police Force officers. They disrupted the session after the team's home loss to Inter Lagos on Sunday, according to The PUNCH.

Inter Lagos won their first Nigeria Premier Football League match on Sunday, beating Enyimba 1-0 at Enyimba Stadium. This loss added to the club's troubles as they face a crisis.

Ezekiel Moses scored the only goal in the 18th minute, heading in a perfect cross to secure the win for Inter Lagos. This defeat marked Enyimba's third loss in a row, leaving them without any points at the start of the 2026/27 season amid ongoing issues on and off the pitch.

After the loss, the team returned to training on Monday. But the session was cut short when Eke reportedly arrived with officers from the Abia State Police Command’s Rapid Response Squad. They took some club officials away.

Videos and photos from the scene showed players and officials looking confused. Club chairman Nwankwo Kanu was seen leading the players to the RRS office. An official at Enyimba Stadium said, "The chairman was about to address the players when the police officers arrived and they arrested some officials. We don’t know why they arrested them, but the chairman led the players to their office."

The official added, "I believe everyone went home from there because there was no training again on Monday. We have a match on Wednesday and we are not training. If they are not careful, this team will go down."

A blog called The Enyimba Fan reported that Eke’s actions were in response to an attack by some stadium officials on Sunday. The blog post said, "Enyimba’s Sporting Director, Daniel Eke, arrives at Enyimba training with RRS officials, disrupts training, and whisks away the Stadium Manager and some of his staff. Apparently, Mr. Daniel was celebrating yesterday after Enyimba dropped points, and these folks fought with him outside the gate. So he’s got officers to arrest them and have them in detention."

The problems at the club started last season when Eke was made sporting director by officials of the Abia State Government. This happened even though Kanu had named former Nigeria international Uche Okechukwu for the same role. The conflict also reached the coaching staff when Deputy Governor Ikechukwu Emetu and Commissioner for Sports Nwaobilor Ananaba introduced Cameroonian coach Emmanuel Deutsch. This was despite Kanu’s appointment of Deji Ayeni.

Ayeni and Okechukwu later stepped aside for Deutsch and Eke, but the power struggle has come back this season. A source close to the club told our correspondent that the latest conflict is part of efforts to remove Kanu. Kanu was appointed chairman of Enyimba by Abia State Governor Alex Otti in 2023.

The source said, "This is like a war between someone who is almost untouchable and grassroots politicians; Kanu was appointed by the governor. In fact, the governor wanted Kanu to be the commissioner, but he chose to be chairman of Enyimba."

The source added, "Since this commissioner came, business is not usual. They used to pester him to share money, but he is nonchalant and doesn’t yield to their calls. He sees himself as too big to get involved in such things, and these are grassroots politicians he is dealing with."

The source continued, "They have thugs on the streets. That was how they walked out the coach the last time when they stormed the stadium. But they can’t do the same to Kanu, and they have been trying to get him out since the governor wasn’t around. It is going to get worse because Kanu is not interested in fighting back. He believes his name is enough. With elections coming close, they are using the grassroots to pressure the governor to withdraw his support for Kanu. If they cannot remove Kanu now, they won’t be able to do it again."

Since Kanu took over, Enyimba's performance in the league has dropped. They finished third in his first season, then sixth in the 2024/25 season, and last season ended up in 11th position.

Enyimba will play against Sporting Lagos on Wednesday. The nine-time champions hope to get their first points of the 2026/27 season and escape the bottom of the table.