Abuja, 15 June-(ANA)-The captain of Nigeria's Bayelsa United has been shot dead just hours after leading his club to the league title.
Abel Tador was driving home after celebrating the team's success when he was stopped by armed robbers, according to the team's media officer.
Reports say Tador was shot in the head as he tried to reverse his car in the troubled Niger Delta.
Bayelsa clinched the Nigerian championship with a 2-2 draw at Warri Wolves on Sunday.
"It is painful to have lost such a player on a day when we ought to be celebrating our historic league win," Bayelsa United chairman Victor Baribote said.
The team finished top of the 20-team league on 70 points, three ahead of their closest rivals Heartland FC of Owerri.
The death comes just a few weeks after two other players from the same team were killed.
Bayelsa is one of the states in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where violence is common.
Militants frequently attack oil installations and kidnap oil workers for ransom.
While the militants say they are fighting to help local people benefit more from the region's oil wealth, many criminal gangs operate in the area, stealing oil. (ANA)
SIPRI/Nuclear Weapons