Leicester City’s midfield dynamo Wilfred Ndidi claimed he and his Nigerian team-mates were “held hostage”.
The Super Eagles were all set for a hop over to Bengazhi to face Libya in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, having previously defeated them 1-0 at home on Friday. But their plane had to land at Al-Abraq airport, which is a whopping four-hour trek from their supposed destination.
Complaining that they were stuck without anything to eat or drink for more than 12 hours, the players claimed the Libyan government was playing dirty tricks to scupper their return match on Tuesday. And Nigeria’s team have now allegedly boycotted the fixture, having been cooped up in the Al-Abraq terminal.
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Ndidi let rip on Instagram: “This is not football. Very embarrassing. Hostage to a national team. Disgrace.” Later, Ndidi added: “This is becoming scary. I’m scared for our lives.”
Nigeria captain and former Watford star William Troost-Ekong later provided an update on the situation, posting on X: “Power of social media. Apparently our plane is being fuelled as we speak and we should be leaving to Nigeria shortly. Thanks for everyone’s support!”
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He added: “I REITERATE: We would NEVER treat a guest nation for a game in this way. Mistakes happen, delays happen. But never on purpose!”
Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface also vented his frustration. He said: “Been at the airport for almost 13 hours no food no wifi nowhere to sleep African we can do better.” He later posted: “This is getting scary now. You guys can have the point. We just want to return to our country.”
Troost-Ekong had earlier shared a detailed account of their ordeal. He posted: “12+ hours in an abandoned airport in Lybia after our plane was diverted whilst descending. Lybian government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason. They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games.”
(Image: @WTroostEkong/X)
He continued: “I’ve experienced stuff before playing away in Africa but this is disgraceful behaviour. Even the Tunisian Pilot who thankfully managed to navigate the last minute change to an airport not fit for our plane to land had never seen something like this before.”
Troost-Ekong ranted further: “Upon arrival he tried to find a nearby airport to rest with his crew to be denied at every hotel again under Government instruction. He could sleep there but NO NIGERIAN crew members allowed. They have returned to now sleep on the plane which is parked up.”
Finally, he called for intervention and made a bold statement regarding the upcoming match: “At this point we have called for our Nigerian Government to intervene and rescue us. As the captain together with the team we have decided that we will NOT play this game. CAF should look at the report and what is happening here.
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“Even if they decide to allow this kind of behaviour, 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 given to us IF we continued.
“We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with int. football.”