The Minister for Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has commended the Nigerian Super Eagles for their maturity “in spite of the provocations” meted to them in Libya.
The minister gave the commendation while receiving the players at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Monday evening.
PUNCH Online reports that the Super Eagles were held for over 16 hours at an abandoned airport in Al Abraq, after their flight, scheduled to land in Benghazi for the second leg of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match, was diverted.
Following the ordeal, the players departed Libya, arriving at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano State, before proceeding to Abuja.
Enoh told the Super Eagles that only their safe return was of importance to Nigerians, adding that they had shown the “Nigerian spirit” by remaining calm and composed despite the ill-treatment by the Libyan authorities.
“The entire country is aware of all you’ve gone through. The entire country has been awake since last night praying that you come back safely. What was important to us was your safe return to the country; nothing else mattered. Let me thank all of you for the great show of maturity despite what took place — despite the provocations”.
“We’ve seen all the pictures — how you were treated and how you tried to see whether you could even find some rest in the airport. How you were stopped from even leaving the airport. Despite all of that, you remained calm and mature. That is the spirit that is typically Nigerian”, he said.
The Minister also informed the players that the Ministry was in communication with the Confederation of African Football regarding the situation.
“We’ve had discussions with the various levels and leaders of CAF in terms of what has happened and what took place,” he added.
Meanwhile, CAF on Monday said it had launched an investigation into the “disturbing” incident.
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