The Federal Government has summoned the Libyan charge d’affaires in Abuja over the treatment of the Super Eagles and team officials in Libya for the second leg of match day four of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
Minister of foreign affairs Yusuf Tuga disclosed this to journalists after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.
The Super Eagles could not proceed with the game slated for Tuesday after being delayed for hours at the airport.
“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 (last week),” Tuga said.
“They were supposed to land in Uyo. Instead, they landed in Port Harcourt. 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, because what we have decided is they need to refuel and get out. We will not be able to allow them to continue.
“You know, it’s a good thing when they (the Libyan delegation) landed in Kano, they actually even got water, otherwise even water would have been a problem.
“But suffice it to say that we have established contact with them. We have sent people from the mission to go there, representing the mission. They are in touch with the delegation.
“Now I am also communicating directly with the chairman (of the Nigerian Football Federation).
“And since last night, we have been on the phone with the Chargé d’affaires because Libya doesn’t have an ambassador here.
“So we are in touch with the Chargé d’affaires. And I’m heading back to the ministry now, where we have summoned the Libyan Chargé d’affaires. This issue has to be resolved as quickly as possible. So we are on top of the situation.”
Meanwhile, the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) said it has referred the incident to its disciplinary board for investigation.
