By Nurudeen Obalola
The Super Eagles of Nigeria were kept at an airport in Libya for hours after their plane was forced to land far from their destination on Sunday.
The Nigerians are in Libya for the second match of their Africa Cup of Nations double-header against the North Africans, and arrived there on Sunday, two days before the fixture billed for Benghazi.
A short video of less than a minute long, posted by the Super Eagles media team on Sunday night, shows officials of the Nigeria Football Federation in discussion with Libyan men in uniform, who appear to be immigration officers, as the Super Eagles players loiter or sit on airport chairs looking resigned.
The video is captioned: “Libyan authorities hold Super Eagles, officials hostage at the Al Abaq airport in Al Abaq.”
The Super Eagles media team then added: “About an hour to landing, the Nigerian aircraft approaching its destination, Benghazi, was diverted to another city more than two-hour drive from the original destination.”
The Libyan Observer reported that the Super Eagles were waiting for passport checks at the due to a malfunction in the system.
The Libyan outlet later added on X: “Sources: After hours of waiting, Nigeria’s football team ended Libya’s entry procedures at Labraq Airport but they are now facing another technical problem as they have to wait for the buses to transport them to Benghazi because there are none now at the airport.”
The action of the Libyans is in apparent response to the allegations by the Mediterranean Knights captain Faisal Al-Badri that they were mistreated in Nigeria.
He claimed before Friday’s 1-0 defeat at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium that they were forced to take a rough, uncomfortable bus trip to Uyo after their plane landed in Port Harcourt, adding that they were lodged in a substandard hotel.
Al-Badri had called for payback from his people when the Nigerian delegation visited for the return leg, and that call appears to have been answered.
