Akwa United are the Nigerian champions for the first time in club history after they beat MFM FC in Uyo to seal the crown on matchday 37 of the 2020-21 Nigeria Professional Football League season.

Red hot striker Charles Atshimene scored a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to 18 goals as the Promise Keepers capped a five-star performance with a 5-2 victory in front of a delirious, near-capacity home crowd at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.

An Mfon Udoh strike and an own goal by Alimi Adebayo added to the home side’s tally while Michael Mbonu and Dennis Obasi scored for MFM.

The win marks the culmination of an excellent campaign in which Kennedy Boboye’s side have been heads and shoulders above the competition and their unassailable points tally of 71 points with a game to spare further buttresses their worthiness as league champions.

It is a second league triumph for Boboye who also claimed the title with Plateau United in 2017.

The signs were there for most parts of the season that after 25-years of existence, this might be Akwa United’s year especially after they set a top-flight record of 18-games without defeat. And in Charles Atshimene, they have arguably the player of the season whose goals played no small part in firing the Promise Keeper to a historic league title.