A newly-established female football club, the Rosaria Victrix Football Club of Okigwe has relocated from its base in Okigwe to Ngugo in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.
The club was floated earlier in 2025 to provide a platform for young, budding female football talents, hitherto trained at Urban Secondary School, Okigwe, in Okigwe LGA of Imo State.
The club management, in a statement on Monday, announced the relocation to its players, fans, and supporters.
It explained that the decision to relocate was taken by the management of the football club over challenges occasioned by distance from Owerri, the Imo State Capital, where the club’s matches and engagements take place.
The club revealed that the new training ground will be Ngugu Central School and urged players to comply accordingly.
However, sources have it that the base was relocated due to the rising insecurity in the Okigwe area, where armed groups are battling each other for control of the region.
In a recent video that trended online, one of the leaders of the armed groups known as ‘Gentle’ was seen executing three young men for allegedly using his weapons to embark on unapproved missions.
The incident is just one of the numerous gory experiences of the locals and motorists who ply the route, raising concerns over why the government, both at the state and federal levels, has been unable to quell the anomaly.
A source within the community told The News Chronicle that the female players have been victims of assault, rape, and kidnapping at the hands of non-state actors.
“It made better sense to relocate these young girls to a safer place instead of exposing them to the risk of being raped and harassed constantly by these ‘animals.’ Some of the girls are as young as 14 to 15 years. If they experience such ugly things, how would they concentrate on career development?” the source queried.
Another Okigwe resident, who pleaded anonymity, claimed that the club was being economical with the truth of why they were relocating, because of the fear of the armed groups.
According to the source, residents are no longer able to go about or speak freely because they are afraid.
The source said, “This has made our Okigwe region a shadow of itself. Businesses are closing down. Essential services are going down daily. Those of us who are here live in perpetual fear.
“Government must wade in to arrest the situation now before Okigwe turns to another Sambisa.”
