Players and officials of Nigeria Professional Football League club Wikki Tourists were spared from death on Thursday morning when their team bus caught fire.
The team were on their way from Bauchi to Uyo for their NPFL fixture billed for Saturday when the near disaster occurred.
According to one of the club’s players, Damala Promise Ezekiel, the team had not travelled too far when the incident happened.
Ezekiel detailed the incident in a Twitter post while the bus was still in flames.
“This Happened this Morning at Hawan Kibo on Our Way to Akwa Ibom for our Match against Dakkada on Saturday,” he tweeted and attached a 28-second video of the burning bus.
“We lost 2 tyres b4 the Bus Eventually caught Fire. Thank God for Delivering Us, no Life Was Lost, No One Was Injured. All Glory to God.”
The distance between Bauchi and Uyo is roughly 900 kilometres and could take up to 13 hours by bus on Nigeria’s rough roads.
Hawan Kibo, in neighbouring Plateau State, where the accident occurred, is about 185km from Bauchi, Wikki Tourists’ base.
Most of the teams in the Nigerian top flight travel long distances by bus on dilapidated roads to prosecute away matches.
