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    Libya/Nigeria: Mistreatment of eagles in Libya – Tinubu demands investigation and justice from CAF

    Mars Posted on

    ·Describes the act as inhumane and unsportsmanlike

    · Welcomes the safe return of the national team, FG summons the Libyan charge d’affaires

    ·The CAF refers the file to its disciplinary council for investigation and appropriate action

    Deji Elumoye, Michael Olugbode in Abuja and Duro Ikhazuagbe in Lagos

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday evening reacted to the alleged inhumane treatment meted out to the Super Eagles at a Libyan airport, calling on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to ensure that those responsible for the act are brought to justice.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said he expected the CAF disciplinary council to conduct a thorough investigation and recommend appropriate action against those who deliberately violated the statutes and regulations of the organization.

    The president, moved by this development, however welcomed the safe return of the national team players to Nigeria.

    The harrowing experience endured by the national football team at the hands of their hosts and Libyan authorities has prompted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to withdraw the Super Eagles from Tuesday’s scheduled match.

    The President commended the proactive coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Sports Development to remedy the situation and ensure the safe return of the players.

    Tinubu praised the players for keeping their spirits up despite their ordeal in Libya.

    He recognized the unifying power of football in bringing nations and people together and considered the treatment of the national team unsportsmanlike and inhumane, stressing that it stood in stark contrast to the spirit of the game he enjoys.

    He called on all football lovers and administrators to work collaboratively to prevent and overcome such incidents in the future.

    Similarly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, said the Nigerian government was already monitoring the situation in Libya.

    Tuggar, in a statement posted on his X account, said: “I have been closely following the situation involving the Super Eagles in Libya.

    “Through the Head of the Nigerian Mission in Tripoli, Libya, Ambassador Stephen Anthony Awuru, the mission has maintained contact with the NFF and Libyan authorities since last night.

    “Despite their efforts, the Libyan authorities have yet to authorize the Nigerian mission to travel to Bayda City, where the airport is located.

    “Meanwhile, the leader of the Nigerian community in Benghazi, Mr. Morris Eromosele, arrived on site at 6 a.m. on Monday morning with necessary supplies and internet access. We will continue to monitor developments and will wait for a report for further action.

    Tuggar confirmed that the Federal Government had summoned the North African country’s charge d’affaires in Nigeria over the inhumane treatment meted out to Super Eagles players in Libya over the weekend.

    Stating that the Nigerian government was aware of the matter, he revealed that he had been in communication with the charge d’affaires since Sunday evening and was awaiting answers to some questions on how Nigerian players were being treated in Libya .

    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, also condemned the poor treatment meted out to the Super Eagles.

    In a statement by NIDCOM spokesperson Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Dahiru-Erewa said traveling by road in Libya was very dangerous and totally inadvisable due to the current situation in the country.

    She lamented that the team, which left Nigeria on Sunday to travel to Libya for its return match, saw its flight diverted to an airport far from the match venue.

    Dahiru-Erewa said the diversion would involve an additional three hours of car travel to the main venue of the match, not to mention the risk of travel to Libya, given the situation in the war-torn country.

    She said the safety of Nigerian players was paramount to the country and remained optimistic that the Ministry of Sports and the NFF would give appropriate advice.

    She also called on CAF to treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves and regretted that already the players, pilots and others on board the flight had been stranded and subjected to inhumane treatment at the airport for more than 13 hours without water, without food. rest and means of communication.

    Dahiru-Erewa said: “The team was delayed at an airport in Libya for more than 13 hours without any tangible reason.”

    She recalled that the Super Eagles flight was redirected to the air on Sunday and they had to travel by road to their destination.

    deploring that the Libyan authorities have not made any arrangements regarding them and that all efforts to propose alternative arrangements by the NFF have been in vain.

    The NIDCOM Chairman called on the Super Eagles to remain calm while the NFF decides the next course of action.

    African football’s governing body, CAF, yesterday issued a statement on the mistreatment of the Nigerian delegation by Libyan authorities and has since ordered an investigation into the matter.

    CAF said in a statement yesterday: “The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has been in contact with the Libyan and Nigerian authorities after being informed that the Nigerian national football team (Super Eagles) and its technical team were stranded in worrying conditions for several hours at an airport where the Libyan authorities allegedly asked them to land.

    “The matter has been referred to the CAF Disciplinary Council for investigation and appropriate action will be taken against those who violated the CAF Statutes and Regulations.”

    Nigeria’s senior national football team, the Super Eagles, and its officials have been held hostage at an Al Abraq airport by Libyan authorities for almost 20 hours since Sunday afternoon.

    The delegation comprising 22 players, NFF officials and other football stakeholders, traveled to Kano directly from Libya after their ordeal before heading to the federal capital.

    The Super Eagles, with seven points from three matches, were scheduled to face Libya, fourth with just one point from the same number of matches, in the coastal town of Benina in a reverse match of the CAN 2025 qualifiers today 15 october.

    The Nigerian delegation flew out of Uyo on Sunday afternoon, 48 hours after beating the North Africans 1-0 last Friday.

    According to the NFF Director of Communications, Dr. Ademola Olajire, the ValueJet aircraft chartered by the delegation was already approaching Benghazi for landing, when a counter-instruction was issued to the pilot to reroute to another airport.

    Olajire said: “Just as the pilot was about to begin his initial approach to Benghazi airport, the control tower informed him that he could not land in Benghazi (although he had all required landing papers and completed all formalities before leaving Uyo and later, Kano, but would have to proceed to Al-Abraq International Airport, even though the airport did not have navigators control to land at such times.

    “The pilot’s complaint that he was running out of fuel fell on deaf ears. Libyan aviation officials sternly insisted that the directive came from ‘higher authorities.’

    After landing at Al-Abraq International Airport in the small town of Labraq, a three-hour drive from Benina, the venue for CAN 2025 qualifying, Libyan officials locked down the airport’s exit points and prevented any player or official from leaving the arrival hall, explained the NFF spokesperson.

    Thus began the ordeal of the players and officials which lasted almost 20 hours.

    The team captain, William Troost-Ekong, would later, amid frustration, post the Super Eagles’ harrowing experience on his X handle.

    Troost-Ekong wrote: “More than 12 hours in an abandoned airport in Libya after our plane was hijacked on its way down. The Libyan government canceled our approved landing in Benghazi for no reason. They locked the gates of the airport and left us without phone connection, eating or drinking All this to play mind games.

    “I experienced things before playing in Africa, but it is shameful behavior. Even the Tunisian pilot who, fortunately, managed to manage the last minute change to an unsuitable airport for our plane to land I’d never seen anything like it before.