The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to the Super Eagles by Libyan authorities.
The national team players and officials were held hostage at Al Abaq Airport for several hours as they landed ahead of the second leg of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) clash billed for Tuesday.
The incident occurred after the Nigerian aircraft, originally boarding to Benghazi – the venue for the fixture, was diverted to another city, just an hour before landing.
According to reports by the Super Eagles players on X, the diversion caused significant distress to the team, officials, and support staff, who were left stranded and subjected to unnecessary delays.
The team has since resolved to not go ahead with the game, as they are already out of the country heading back to Nigeria after over 12hours of delay.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Diana-Mary Nsan, Enoh expressed deep concern over the poor treatment of Austin Eguavoen’s men, particularly as they were in Libya for an international engagement.
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“Such actions by the Libyan authorities are deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable,” said the Minister.
“Holding our national team and officials hostage under any circumstances violates not only international sporting protocols but also the principles of respect and hospitality that should be extended to all visiting teams.
“The Nigerian government will not tolerate any form of disrespect or mistreatment toward our players and officials.
“We are in close contact with the appropriate authorities, and we are sparing no effort in ensuring that this situation is resolved swiftly. I urge everyone to remain calm while we engage diplomatically to address this matter,” he added.
At the time of this report, the chartered aircraft of the Super Eagles has been permitted to depart Libya.
The team is hence already on their way back to Nigeria, as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is expected to take action on the incident.
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