Super Eagles Lybia maltreatment: Sports minister demands CAF’s action
The Minister of Sports, John Enoh, has upbraided the Libyan authorities’ maltreatment of the Super Eagles ahead of the team’s second leg of 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifier match against Lybia slated for Tuesday in the country.
The Nigerian team who were billed to land in Benghazi for the crucial encounter was unexpectedly diverted mid-flight to Al Abraq, a small airport basically reserved for Hajj operations.
In the circumstance, the players and officials were stranded without any assistance from the Libyan Football Federation, which failed to provide transportation for them.
While reacting to the development in a statement via his official X handle, @OwanEnoh, on Monday, the minister said that he had reported the incident to all the necessary authorities.
The minister described the situation of the Super Eagles as an ‘almost hostage’ situation.
“I strongly condemn the obnoxious treatment meted out to players and officials of the Senior National Team, the Super Eagles, who arrived in Libya yesterday, the 13th of October, for the reverse version of the match played on Friday in Uyo, the AFCON 2025 Group D qualifiers,” the statement said.
“The National Team was en route to Benghazi but was diverted on approaching the airport (with very scant attention to their safety) to Al Abaq Airport, which is hours away from Benghazi, where their match is slated to take place,” it added.
“All through the night, I have escalated the matter and involved all necessary authorities; from the Foreign Affairs Minister, the National Security Adviser, the DG NIA, Amaju Pinnick, our CAF Executive member. I have also remained in touch with both the president of the NFF, who is on the ground with the team and the Chairman of Value Jet, owners of the plane that airlifted the team to Libya.
“All hands must be on deck to protect our National Team. The Team have succinctly stated that they have been unattended to for upwards of about 15 hrs since arrival, with no food, no accommodation, left in a mosquito-infested environment and cordoned off by Libyan security not to step out of the airport, and they have access to nothing. To say the least, they face an almost ‘hostage’ situation. These are sportsmen set to compete in an AFCON qualifying match come Tuesday!
“For now, our primary concern is the safety of the members of our national team. With the events of the past hours, their safety is not guaranteed, and the team insists they’re unable to go ahead with the match not just because of the trauma and consequent psychological torture but also because of fear for their safety.
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