‘We came hungry… must we go back hungry?’ — Team Bayelsa protests as NSF ends

As the National Sports Festival (NSF) came to an end on Sunday, athletes representing Bayelsa protested non-payment of allowances.

Team Bayelsa finished fifth on the NSF medal table.

Representatives of the state carried placards with various inscriptions such as “we are hungry”, “we are stranded”, “we suffered in Abuja”, among others.

Before the closing ceremony kicked off, the federal capital territory (FCT) contingent also staged a protest over non-payment of allowances.

A source disclosed to TheCable that the festival fund for the FCT athletes was released to the sports department a few weeks to the commencement of the festival.

“The FCT ministry released the funds for the athletes some weeks to the festival,” the source said.

“The FCT Sports department whose responsibility is to receive and disburse the funds to the athletes could not access the funds.”