Suspected fans of Ranchers bees pounced on referee Charles Ozigbo and beat him to a coma, during their match against Kwara United on Friday morning.

The first game between the two clubs was abandoned in the 62nd minute, with scores level at 2-2 at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium some weeks ago.

In the rescheduled match at the FIFA Goal Project Technical Centre, trouble began when Ozigbo awarded a penalty against Ranchers Bees and their fans invaded the pitch to assault him. He was eventually rescued by Usman Haruna, the secretary of the FCT Football Association.

"It was a pitiable sight to behold for lovers of Nigerian football. You will notice from the beginning that there was tension everywhere on the part of Ranchers Bees. All their movement before the start of the match was highly suspicious," Kwara United's head of protocol Demola Kiyesola told Goal.

"They didn't come for the pre match meeting and they didn't come with their official team bus. What we saw was them coming out from bush around just before the game started.

"hey (fans of Ranchers) were causing trouble from the start of the game because they never saw anything good in the match officials handling of the match.

"The infringement given to us was the straw that incited the Ranchers Bees' fans. They beat the match officials and the policemen that came to maintain law and order."

Kiyesola added that the matter has been forwarded to the league organizers, who will review the match reports of both the officials and match commissioner, before a decision is taken.