The plight of the national wheelchair tennis team came to light after it was attacked while returning from Nigeria earlier this week.
According to the National Paralympic Committee of Ghana, the unfortunate incident occurred in Ogun State.
The wheelchair tennis team left for Nigeria to participate in the 2023 ITF World Team Cup Africa Qualifier which ended on February 12.
However, on his way back to Ghana, his bus was intercepted by armed robbers around 2:30 am.
The assailants injured three players and bolted some valuables belonging to the persons in the bus.
“Due to lack of funds for the Ghanaian team consisting of 3 men’s team players, 3 women’s team players and the national coach, the team hired a private Nigerian transport company to transport the players by road to Abuja, wait for the team and bring the team back. Accra Ghana by road again,” A team statement said.
“The Ghanaian team successfully participated in the tournament and both the Ghanaian team finished 4th in both categories in the tournament respectively.
“Because the team did not have financial support from the nation or other stakeholders in sports in Ghana, the team could not sleep in a hotel after the classification program and coaches workshop which ended at 3pm on February 12, 2023, so they decided to leave Abuja that evening.”
Statement added: “So when they arrived at Sadamu in Ogun State-Nigeria at exactly 2:30 am on the 13th of February 2023 on their way to Lagos Nigeria, they were attacked by armed robbers who shot several times to stop their vehicles, but the brave driver did not stop but the armed men who were shooting at him. ran through.
“There were no gunshot wounds to the team or the driver but a broken windscreen cut most of the team and a player named Bernard Yewson, who was sitting in the front set, suffered a head injury and was cut by the flying windscreens. .
“The team managed to get to the Ghana border at Aflac before leaving at 11pm to access internet service to break the news to the Ghana wheelchair tennis fraternity.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Youth and Sports expressed sympathy for the team while pledging to support the team after it came under attack.
