The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, insists that the Libyan Football Federation deliberately dehumanised the Super Eagles on their arrival at the Libyan airport.
Besides, ensuring that Nigerian players and officials were detained for about 17 hours at a Libyan airport on Sunday, the minister said members of ValueJet airline crew were denied access to their hotel accommodation in Libya, except the two pilots who hail from North Africa.
Enoh was certain that the Libyans, who displayed unprofessional antics while playing in Nigeria, wrote a script to torture Nigerians emotionally and went ahead to act it.
He said the management of the chartered plane were smart enough to deploy two Arab pilots to fly the Super Eagles to Libya. When the plane landed and the Super Eagles and NFF officials were being detained, only the crew were cleared to go to town to refresh.
However, another drama ensued as only the two Arab pilots were allowed into the hotel while the rest of the crew who are Nigerians were denied access to the hotel.
The Nigerian contingent was denied access to food and the internet and the Super Eagles were made to go through the cruellest emotional and inhuman treatment at the airport by the Libyan authorities.
The minister who spoke on Channels Television Politics Today confirmed that relevant Nigerian authorities have already escalated the matter with Libyan government, CAF and other bodies.
He dismissed any claim by Libya that their players were given the same treatment when they arrived Nigeria to honour the first leg of the match in Uyo.
“The Port Harcourt Airport where they arrived is one of our best airports. That Port Harcourt Airport, there is no circumstance that will lead to a team having the footballers lie on the floor. All these things were created deliberately to create some make belief. If this was an issue, it should have been made an issue there and then?” he wondered.
CAF has delisted the match while investigation is ongoing to ascertain level of culpability of Libyans.
The minister could not exonerate CAF from the sad saga. He lamented a situation whereby the CAF authority did not comment for about 13 hours after the Nigerian players were subjected to the inhuman treatment at Libya airport.
“I called the attention of CAF yesterday morning to the fact that when that happened and the NFF was on the ground trying to sort out whatever logistics, the CAF Secretary General didn’t allow the President one minute of continuous contact and pressure.
“Yesterday (Monday) morning, it was about 12, 13 hours. How come 13 hours after our team is so subjected, there is no indication that CAF is in direct communication with the Libyan Football Federation?
“If there are such two authorities in Libya, does Libya offer a good environment for international matches of this nature to be hosted in the country?” the minister queried.
