Nigeria National Football Team to Return Home Amid Allegations of Inhumane Treatment in Libya

NFF Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, stated, “The players have unanimously decided against participating in the match any longer, and NFF officials are making arrangements to return the team to Nigeria.” In addition, the Nigerian federation has lodged a formal complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding the situation.

The Nigerian squad has reportedly been stranded at an abandoned airport in Libya for over 15 hours since their chartered flight arrived on Sunday. Compounding the issue, the Nigerian Embassy in Libya is unable to intervene without explicit permission from the Libyan government.

Captain William Troost-Ekong declared that the team would not proceed to play the match and would not undertake the three-hour bus journey from al-Abraq to Benina, where the qualifier is set to take place on Tuesday. He expressed his concerns for player safety, stating on social media, “As the team captain, together with the team, we have decided that we will NOT play this game. Let them have the points. We will not accept to travel anywhere by road here; even with security, it’s not safe. We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like if we continued.”

Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Ikpeba, who is accompanying the team in Libya, has called for stringent sanctions against the Libyan authorities and has backed the decision to boycott the match. He lamented the current situation, saying, “If CAF knows their job, Libya ought to be banned from international football. This is a high-risk country, and one really wonders who approved for Libya to be playing their games at home. I played for the Super Eagles for 10 years, and I never experienced what I have in Libya in the last hours.”

Ikpeba added, “The team is not safe; those of us traveling with them are also not safe. We were locked up in an abandoned airport for more than 10 hours like hostages. The team will call off their bluff and not play this match.”

In their last encounter on Friday, Nigeria secured a narrow 1-0 victory against Libya in the southern city of Uyo. Currently, Nigeria leads Group D with seven points from three matches, while Libya languishes at the bottom of the standings with just one point.