AGGRIEVED members of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) women football team, FCT Queens, over the weekend stormed the Area 11 office complex of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to protest and demand the payment of their four-year salary arrears and other allowances.The women footballers managed by the FCT alleged that their salaries and allowances since 2007 had not been paid and that the body language of the administration suggested neglect of the issue by the authorities. Numbering over30, the players carried various placards with such inscriptions as, 'Pay us our money to pay our debts,' 'You are fighting prostitution, yet you are forcing us into prostitution.'They also lamented their neglect by the FCT Sports Council by not payingtheir allowances for participating in the National Sports Festival in Kaduna and Port Harcourt in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Led bythe team captain, Oluchi Eze,the protesting players revealed that the administrationhas not paid them any form of salary or feefrom 2008 to 2011.'They said they were going to pay us for the last one year but instead of paying us they kept telling us come today, come tomorrow,' the captain said. 'They said the new administration had said it would not honour their former arrangement with the erstwhile management of the club under the defunct women commission of the FCT, a position they said they were not comfortable with.'While the protest lasted, the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister, Jubril Wowo, who waded into thematter, assured the footballers that the matter would be given expeditious attention by the authorities.His intervention led to the invitation of the Director of Sports, FCT Social Development Secretariat, Halim Musa, who came to address the footballers, assuring them that their file had reached the Treasury for payment.'We appreciate the fact that you people are facing some challenges but we are doing our best to handle the situation and to be sure that you people are comfortable, as am talking to you, the file is in the Treasury for payment,' Musa said.
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