The Nigerian Government has denied apologising to the Libyan authorities over the Super Eagles Al Abaq Airport saga.
The Libya Observer erroneously reported on Tuesday that the Nigerian government has issued an apology for the incident.
A statement by the spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, Alkasim Abdulkadir, insisted the publication misrepresented the phone correspondence between the Minister, Amb Yusuf Tuggar and the East-based Government’s Foreign Minister.
He says “Nigeria remains unequivocal in expressing its displeasure and disappointment with how the Nigerian Football Federation officials were treated in Libya.
“It calls on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to urgently ensure that its Disciplinary Board investigates the matter and imposes appropriate sanctions based on its statutes.”
It would be recalled that the Super Eagles contingent were held hostage at the airport for several hours in Libya.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore, states the fact of the matter thus:
“The CDA of the Government of National Unity was summoned to the Ministry to seek an immediate end to the unfortunate incident.
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“However, not much diplomatic headway was made during the meeting with the Acting Charge of Affairs, Imad Mohammed Matooq Aboud, as they insisted that it was not under the jurisdiction of Tripoli, which they represented, but that of the Eastern Government in Benghazi.
“This prompted the Minister to take immediate action by contacting the Foreign Minister of the Eastern Government, Abdelhadi Lahweej, to intervene and ensure that the detention ended.
“After that, the aircraft was given the necessary permits to fly, and aviation fuel was accessed.
“Both Ministers agreed that the matter should be de-escalated immediately.
“Even when Lahweej insisted on rehashing the untruth about the treatment of Libyan players in Nigeria, Amb Tuggar once again corrected the misinformation about the mistreatment of Libyan players during the Nigerian encounter.
“He did not apologise or regret the treatment of Libyan officials and players because the account was inaccurate.
“Lahweej proposed a joint statement, which the Ministry rejected because it erroneously misrepresented the facts of the incident. Above all, the federal government of Nigeria only shares a diplomatic relationship with the government of the National Accord and not with the Eastern government.
“Nigeria remains unequivocal in expressing its displeasure and disappointment with how the Nigerian Football Federation officials were treated in Libya.
“It calls on the Confederation of African Football to urgently ensure that its Disciplinary Board investigates the matter and imposes appropriate sanctions based on its statutes.”
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COMMENTS
All these content creators that we have as footballers nowadays.
Oh I remember back in the Day their Rashidi yekini siasia and co use to travel on a tight space bus by road for over 14 hours and they will be held up for 8 hours observing some security checks but as soldiers on the field, they will still bring joy to us on tv…
But these genzee footballers instead of putting fans first had to abandoned the match….
Smh….
Mumu…. a l’ode ni e…..
Caf itself is so irresponsible to know that the eastern part of Libya is governed by rebels and militias. This means that mistype and his fellow rogues have been risking the lives of several national teams who have played in Benghazi. This terrorist government in the East does not recognize any international body while the one in Tripoli is recognized by UN and is more diplomatically aligned with most countries and it seems like this eastern govt has much more power than the govt seated in Tripoli. CAF should not allow international football activities in Libya till they sort themselves out. It is a dangerous place, and I can only feel for the Nigerians stranded there…. We have heard of tales of modern-day slavery in Libya. People of west African origin are subjected to harsh and animalistic conditions. These bastards killed an American ambassador. Watch 13hrs: secret soldiers of Benghazi
Motsepe* not mistype
Libya don take style dodge wotowoto.
It’s not a coincidence that Libya rhymes with the Yoruba word “IYA”.
Libya setan lati jiya.
Owo iya fe te Libya.
Awon Libya ri iya, won sa fun iya.
Won ba je babanla iya.
They managed to escape this time. We’ll get them next time!
NFF should have petitioned CAF to move the game to a neutral ground months ago. Abi dem no know say Libya na terrorist stronghold? It was always going to be unsafe playing there. Especially as we are likely to beat them in front of their fans. The reaction to that could very easily turn violent.
NFF need to be proactive when it comes to the safety and security of our players and coaches.