1 month ago
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The Nigerian government has taken swift action in response to the ill-treatment of the Super Eagles by Libyan authorities, summoning Libya’s chargé d’affaires to resolve the issue promptly.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, strongly condemned the incident, describing it as “the most unfortunate situation.”
The Nigeria national football team was diverted to a different airport in Libya, where they were left without food and other basic needs, including aviation fuel, as the delegation sought to return to Nigeria.
“Well, it’s the most unfortunate situation, because the Super Eagles flew to Libya to play a match. As you know, the Libyan team was here. They were supposed to land in Uyo; instead, they went and landed in Port Harcourt, where they were not supposed to land.
“And now our team has gone to Libya, and somehow the plane gets diverted to a different airport. And unfortunately, at that airport, there is no aviation fuel,” Minister Tuggar stated.
Mr Tuggar expressed relief that the team received some water when they landed in Kano, preventing a potentially dire situation.
“It’s a good thing when they landed in Kano they actually even got some water, some cartoons of water; otherwise, even water would have been a problem,” the Minister added.
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The Nigerian government has established contact with the team and sent representatives from the mission to assist them.
“We’ve sent people from the mission to go there, representing the mission. They are in touch with the delegation… I am also communicating directly with the chairman, and since last night, we’ve been on the phone with the chargé d’affaires,” Mr Tuggar explained.
Given Libya’s lack of an ambassador in Nigeria, Mr Tuggar summoned the chargé d’affaires to the ministry to resolve the issue “quickly”.
“Libya doesn’t have an ambassador here, so we’re in touch with the chargé d’affaires, and I’m heading back to the ministry now, where we have summoned the chargé d’affaires. This issue has to be resolved as quickly as possible. So we’re on top of the situation,” the minister emphasised.
The Nigerian government insists it is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of the Super Eagles.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: CAF launches probe into Super Eagles’ Libya airport ordeal
Consequently, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has pulled out of the match, citing concerns over the team’s safety.
This decision may lead the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to award three points and three goals to Libya as the Super Eagles look certain to carry out their threat to boycott the game.
Reports suggest the Super Eagles have already boarded and are on their way back to the country after a tortuous time in Libya where they were hoping to seal their qualification for next year’s AFCON tournament to be staged in Morocco
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