Reps Commence Probe Of Poor Treatment Of Super Eagles In Libya

The House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated its Committees on Sports and Foreign Affairs to immediately probe the ill-treatment of Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, in Libya.

The House, while condemning the dehumanising treatment of the Eagles “in totality”, sympathised with them over their ordeal on Tuesday during plenary.

The House also passed a resolution urging the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to make official complaints to CAF and FIFA to launch a thorough investigation into the matter.

The position of the House followed the adoption of an urgent motion of importance by Rep Kabiru Ahmadu.

This followed the poor treatment of the nation’s football team on Monday in Libya.

THE WHISTLER reports the Super Eagles had flown to the warring North African country for the second leg of the African Nations Cup qualifiers but had their plane diverted mid-air even when the pilot complained of inadequate fuel.

The players and officials of the NFF were then left stranded at the Albraq Airport where their plane was diverted to for almost 17 hours without food, water or accommodation causing serious condemnation and protest worldwide.

The football world condemned the treatment of the Eagles with some African football icons like Emmanuel Adebayor of Togo, calling for Libya to be punished for bringing the beautiful game into disrepute.

The players and officials were eventually allowed to leave the troubled country and arrived at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Monday, awaiting the outcome of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) investigation, which has launched an investigation.

Moving a motion of urgent national importance on Tuesday, the lawmaker expressed worries over the manner the Nigerian contingent was treated.

He said it was disturbing that after diverting the Nigerian delegation to the Albraq Airport, the Libyan authorities denied the Super Eagles access to hotels and internet facilities, thus, making life unbearable for them.

Contributing to the motion, Chris Nkwonta said the ordeal the delegation underwent was not only embarrassing to the team but Nigerians and Africans as a whole, emphasising the need for an urgent investigation to avoid a future occurrence.