Edo State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, has condemned in the strongest terms, the poor attitude of Libya authorities to receiving a Nigerian contingent into their country ahead of the Match Day 4 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers on Tuesday.
The arrangement Nigeria Football Federation had with the Libya Football Federation was to have the Super Eagles land in Benghazi which is a few minutes drive to the Benina Stadium.
But the flight from Nigeria was suddenly diverted to Abraq airport, which is almost four-hour drive to Benghazi. In a short video shared by the NFF, Super Eagles players were seen stranded at the airport waiting for immigration to pass them into their country.
After 12 hours of waiting, the Libyans seem to have achieved their aims at frustrating the Nigerian contingent as the NFF has now decided to fly the Super Eagles back to Nigeria after players unanimously agreed not to play against Libya under harsh condition
Reacting to the ugly incident, Shaibu condemned, in totality, the attitude of the Libyan government and the treatment meted out to the Super Eagles.
The Deputy Governor said this action isn’t helpful to grow the continent’s football and country’s relationship.
“This is but a game of football — does Libya need more than 3 points? Subjecting the team and delegates to this harsh condition is an act of terrorism that they should be ashamed of because I don’t know what they would say if anything happend to these boys.
“This is a game scheduled for tomorrow, and by now, the boys haven’t passed the security check to begin another 4-hour-plus journey to Benina, where the match is scheduled to be played.
“This is a big slap on CAF and the African Union if this is done to an African country by another African country.
“I’m calling on the African Union and CAF, to act and put an end to these acts of terrorism that could jeopardize the growth of football in the continent and lead to disunity”.
The Libya/Super Eagles incident adds to the recent history of complaints about poor treatment in Libya, with Rwanda also reporting unfavourable conditions during an AFCON qualifier last month.
