Hell was let loose in Kano yesterday when angry fans, alleged to be Pillars supporters, went on rampage, beating up match referees and players of Shooting Stars of Ibadan during their Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) Week Eight game at the Sani Abacha Stadium.

The fans’ anger was directed at the match officials and players of the visiting Shooting Stars, who scored a late equaliser in the dying minutes of the game.

Irked by the visitors’ effrontery in denying their side a win, the fans poured into the field, beating the match officials, 3SC players and every “strange face” in the stadium.

This forced security operatives to fire several canisters of teargas at the fans in a desperate bid to restore order.

Yesterday’s incident was not the first time Kano Pillars’ fans would take laws into their hands because a game did not go their way. Since 2019, the former NPFL champions have been fined over N36 million as punishment for their fans’ misconduct during NPFL games.

In 2019, the Sai Masu Gida were made to pay N8 million, while they paid N13.75 million in 2022, N1 million in 2023 and N14 million in 2024. But these fines have not checked their fans’ excesses.

Reacting to the latest incident involving their side yesterday, the management of Kano Pillars announced that those involved in the mayhem have been apprehended and handed over to security operatives. They also pledged to work with the NPFL to address the situation.

However, officials of the visiting 3SC reported that many of their players were injured in the fracas and are currently receiving treatment in an unidentified hospital. They said that the Oyo State government was making arrangements to airlift them back to Ibadan as soon as possible.