"This is one of the worst things I've ever been through in my life. They shot dead our driver, there was no-one to drive the bus. It was like we were living in a dream. I'm still under shock.
I was one of those who carried the injured players into the hospital. That was when I realized what was really going on.

All the players - everyone was crying, calling their mums, crying on the phone, saying their last words because they thought they'd be dead. We were waiting for the bullets to stop but they kept firing at us.

Those of us on the bullet-riddled vehicle had to continue to dodge bullets to jump into the cars that eventually came to rescue us. In the end, we had to hide under the seats of the bus as bullets flew around us".

It was a nasty and barbaric display of "fireworks" for close to thirty minutes when in the late afternoon of last Friday, gunmen with allegiance to the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), a rebel group that has been fighting for the oil wealth in that region for the past 30years, opened gunfire on players and officials of the Togolese football team who were on their way to through the province of Cabinda, Angola where they were supposed to be based for the 27th edition of the Orange African Cup Of Nations which started yesterday, Sunday January 10 2010.

Officials and team players who were travelling in their team bus, became victims of the rebel group, 5km (3 miles) across the border who, without any mercy and hesitation went trigger-happy and fired shots into the bus for half an hour.

In the process, an Angolan driver who drove the team from their DR Congo camping base was killed with several others sustaining severe cuts on parts of their bodies.  Reports at the time of writing yesterday confirmed that two others who sustained injuries on Friday had since died bringing the total number of dead to three.

The players, who looked perplexed and terrified after the incident, couldn't help but console each other by helping in carrying their affected colleagues to the hospital. At this point, it had become excruciatingly difficult for the likes of Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor and FC Nante's Thomas Dosevi, who broke down in tears mournfully.

An obviously distraught Adebayor later told the press, "This is one of the worst things I've ever been through in my life. They shot dead our driver, there was no-one to drive the bus. It was like we were living in a dream. I'm still under shock. I was one of those who carried the injured players into the hospital. That was when I realized what was really going on.

All the players - everyone was crying, calling their mums, crying on the phone, saying their last words because they thought they'd be dead. We were waiting for the bullets to stop but they kept firing at us. Those of us on the bullet-riddled vehicle had to continue to dodge bullets to jump into the cars that eventually came to rescue us. In the end, we had to hide under the seats of the bus as bullets flew around us".

FC Nante's Thomas Dossevi who described the gunmen as hooded and "armed to the teeth", said the whole incident was a machine gun affair saying they had been machine-gunned, like dogs…"We were machine-gunned at the DR Congo border with Angola.

I don't know why. We were under the seats of the bus for 20 minutes trying to get away from the bullets. We had just completed border checks when the firing started. We were surrounded by the police and everything was in order. Then there was heavy firing and police fired back. You would have thought we were in a war. We were shocked. When we got out of the bus, we asked ourselves, why us?"
Midfielder Richmond Forson said the number of injuries could have been much worse had the gunmen not originally fired on the wrong bus."It was the bus carrying our baggage which was in front of us which they fired on the most. They thought we were in the bus in front, fortunately for us.

That's what saved us. Then they fired on our driver and those who were in front. The windscreen was shattered by the first bullets. It's disgusting to take bullets for a football match."
The incident left the survived players and officials on board the team bus, bemused and heart broken as they made phone calls to their families and friends.

The captain of the team, Emmanuel Adebayor, later poured out his displeasure with what transpired: a sharp contrast to three weeks ago when he had vouched for the safety of traveling to Angola for the Nations Cup. On December 7, the Manchester City Striker told newsmen that, "We were born in Africa so we know what it's about. Some people might be afraid which is normal, I can understand that.

But I'm going back to Africa, to one of the countries on my continent, and I'm prepared for Cabinda. I will enjoy myself. African nations are getting better and better. We can't be like France, England or America tomorrow. Angola had a big, big war but today everybody is getting along better.

They have good organization and we hope everyone will enjoy. They have good organization and we hope everyone will enjoy it and come back safely."
But his hopes were dashed when the scales tilted against him as he became a victim of what the pessimists feared about the continent only few weeks ago.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED

Soon, news of their carnage reached millions of a global audience with bulletins of radio and television stations serializing the story hour after hour. Internet sites were flooded by visitors who searched the veracity or otherwise of the story. Togo and Cabinda had all of a sudden gained worldwide coverage for all the wrong reasons. Players and officials would then talk to some media outlets of their run-in with death with captain, Adebayor, becoming the official spokesman.
Below are extracts of how the various outlets reported the news

Togo's soccer team attacked in Angola
…A bus carrying Togo's national soccer team to a tournament in Angola came under fire Friday, and Togolese officials said they were weighing whether to pull out of the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations, which starts Sunday.

Driver killed, nine injured as assailants open fire on Togolese team bus
…A bus carrying the Togolese team playing in the Africa Cup of Nations was fired on near the Angolan border. The head of Togo's football federation told AFP that the driver was killed and nine others were injured.

One dead, 9 hurt in gun attack on Togo soccer team
…Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Togo's national soccer squad to the top African tournament in Angola on Friday, killing the driver and wounding nine others, including two players, a Togo team official said.

Togo footballers shot in ambush
…Gunmen have fired on a bus carrying Togo's football team to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, wounding players and reportedly killing the driver.

HOW IT WAS RECEIVED BACK HOME AND ACROSS AFRICA

GHANA

The news of Togo's tragedy hurriedly reached the over 20 million Ghanaians back home through the "breaking news" of the international electronic media. While some sympathized with the team, others questioned what informed their decision to travel on a bus rather than by airplane.

A cross section of the public which included football fans and even the non-football loving public expressed their disgust at the incident. A young man, who often travels to Lome to purchase goods for sale in Accra, questioned the idea behind such a plot. He didn't mince words at all as he described the gunmen as 'shameless cowards'.

For some, the issue of Togo's continuous stay or exit from the tournament was what occupied their thoughts. A visit by The Mail to the streets of Accra saw scores of people discussing the possible exit of the Togolese team, as it had become evidently clear that they weren't going to take part in the tournament, and what becomes of Group B which has Ghana as a contender.

TOGO

When news of the near demise of their national team players and officials reached the tiny West African state, the atmosphere was one of grief and sorrow as the whole country went numb with disbelief and sorrow.

Immediately, Togolese government officials sent a delegation to the Congolese town of Pointe Noire across the border from where the national team bus was ambushed. They released a statement assuring the entire country of the government's commitment to go to the bottom of the incident. "The government is monitoring the situation hourly.

We have decided to send a delegation to Pointe Noire where the team currently is to support our compatriots and the whole delegation and to evaluate the situation," the statement read. "The Togolese people will be kept regularly informed on how this painful episode progresses," it added.

News of shock and disbelief greeted last Friday's incident as all over the continent and beyond; it became the most discussed story. Soon, some Togolese nationals domiciled in other countries, would make phone calls to get more interpretation of the sad news.

THE WITHDRAWAL

On Saturday, the Togolese national team withdrew from the tournament citing lack of security and solidarity with their colleagues who lost their lives. Adebayor was quoted as saying: "We don't really want to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.

We are thinking of our friends, the injured players. I think a lot of players want to leave, I don't think they want to be at this tournament any more because they have seen their death already. Most of the players want to go back to their family. No-one can sleep after what they saw on Friday…This is the decision we have taken. We expect the rest of Africa to respect it.

This is what is good for our careers, our lives and our families. At the end of the day, it's only football we came to play and not bullets. A lot of players want to leave. They have seen death and want to go back to their families…We keep repeating that Africa must change its image and unfortunately, that is not happening.

We have a chance to organize one of the biggest tournaments in this world which is the World Cup, and can you imagine what is happening now? I'm very disgraced and for me it's unfair…"

REACTIONS BY CAF AND FIFA, ANGOLAN GOVERNMENT AND LOC

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) reacted by condemning the attack against the Togolese delegation and held an emergency meeting the same day to discuss the incident. A delegation of Angolan officials and a CAF delegation went to Cabinda on Saturday to sympathize and talk them into rescinding their decision, while the Angolan Prime Minister met CAF president Issa Hayatou "to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition."

FIFA expressed its "utmost sympathy" in a statement and said it expected a report from CAF.
The Angolan government called the incident an "act of terrorism". "The attack comes from certain individuals who want to cause problems for us", a government official was quoted as saying. A member of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) said the attack was unfortunate but the tournament would go ahead as planned.

REBEL GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILTY: 'We did it'
Rebels with strong ties to The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) have claimed responsibility for the bus attack and warned of more of such attacks in the days to come.  The FLEC have been fighting for independence since 1966 after refusing to sign a peace deal following a bloody 27-year civil war.

They want the northern province of Cabinda to be made a republic - largely due to the millions of dollars yields in exports and oil wealth. They have kidnapped and killed several soldiers and oil staff in recent months.

Angola produces hardwood, coffee, rubber and palm oil products - as well as being the second largest oil producer in Africa. Cabindans see few benefits from the profits produced from their land hence the formation of rebel groups, very much like Nigeria's Niger Delta.

The south-central African nation is also riddled with landmines - the legacy of the civil war which cost half a million lives. Angola has one of the worst life expectancy and child mortality rates in the world.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR ANGOLA AND AFRICA

This latest attack comes months before the world would gather in South Africa, for the World Cup. This is bound to cast doubt on the future of hosting rights and countries that deserve it or not. For a 27-year war-ravaged country that weaned itself of negativity not too long ago to the point where this tournament was going to afford it the chance to show how well or bad the country had grown, this unwarranted attacked from a dissatisfied body like their very own FLEC, wasn't needed at all.

This is another major test case for the former Portuguese colony and the African continent at large.
Premiership teams call for return of players

In a related development, some English Premiership teams whose players are at the 27th edition of the Orange African Cup of Nations have audaciously called for the immediate release of those players from their respective countries, citing fear for their lives.

The call, made over the weekend, started coming in just when the attack on the Togolese team became official with Hull City's Phil Brown leading the pack of managers.

Hours after Brown had made the request: Emmanuel Adebayor's Manchester City issued a statement allaying the fears of their numerous fans about the health condition of their star player. "We've spoken to him, he is okay. He has assured us that everything is in order", a portion of the statement read.
Portsmouth, which has four players in Angola, said it was considering withdrawing its players.

Portsmouth spokesman Gary Double said: "We have asked the (English) Football Association to ask FIFA how safe it is and to guarantee the safety of our players. Our players' safety is paramount, and if that can't be guaranteed the players should be sent home."