Additional information and details of the forced evacuation of the plane carrying the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, from Benghazi to Al-Abraq International Airport in the North African nation have surfaced.
These details and information were revealed in a video that has gone viral online. In the trending video, the pilot who flew the Super Eagles to Libya revealed how authorities of Libya refused his plea to successfully land the plane in Benghazi.
AFRIPOST had reported that in preparation for the return leg of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Libya, which was supposed to happen on Tuesday, October 15, the Super Eagles took a plane to Libya on Sunday, October 13.
Regretfully, the Libyan football authorities held the Super Eagles “hostage” at the Al-Abraq International Airport for more than 16 hours.
It should be noted that NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, Comrade Philip Shaibu, NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, and several other individuals were among Nigeria’s representatives at the game.
They were treated inhumanely despite the high-level delegation, Olajire said in a statement on October 14 (yesterday).
The Super Eagles had to return to Nigeria while awaiting the conclusion of the CAF inquiry into the saga and the mistreatment they received from the Libyan football officials.
However, the pilot who flew the Nigerian team to Libya said in a social media video that went viral that the Libyan authorities turned down his request to successfully land the aircraft in Benghazi.
He said that Libyan officials ordered he be diverted to Al-Abraq Airport, which was distant from their intended destination, even though he had warned that he was running short on aviation fuel.
He claimed that as he was ready to make his first approach into Benghazi, the control tower told him to go to Al-Abraq International Airport instead, even though the airport lacked the control navigators needed to land there, even though he had all the necessary landing documents and had finished all the formalities before departing Uyo and then Kano.
He complained that he was running low on fuel, but he was assured that the command came from ‘higher authorities.’
The pilot said that all relevant communications and authorisations are logged and may be used as proof if necessary.
He said, “The truth was we were going to Benghazi, and I can show you the evidence of the approval, I have it. But at the last minute, they changed their mind and changed the airport.”
Regarding the conditions at Al-Abraq, the pilot discussed the difficulties of landing at what he described as a poorly equipped domestic airport.
“There is no ILS (Instrument Landing System), no air navigation approach, no VHR (VHF Omnidirectional Range). We had to make a visual landing, which is particularly difficult by night with marginal weather,” he said, adding that the airport’s lack of facilities left them with “no second chances” if the landing had gone wrong.
The pilot’s knowledge of the location, having worked there for two years with a Tunisian firm, was critical in navigating the challenging landing.
He added, “It was not an easy matter at all. When a pilot hears this, he will understand that it was not an easy thing to land under such conditions. Thank God we made it safely.”