Nigeria’s National Assembly (NASS), has expressed outrage over the inhumane treatment meted out to the Super Eagles of Nigeria and their delegation at Al-Abraq International Airport in Libya, describing the incident as unacceptable.
Both houses of the National Assembly yesterday unanimously condemned the unsporting behaviour of Libya towards the Nigerian senior national team and resolved to probe the unacceptable incidents that necessitated the withdrawal of the Super Eagles from the AFCON match.
Debating the issue after a motion by the Chairman Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Sulaiman Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) during plenary on Tuesday,
Senators condemned the act, saying the treatment was not in tandem with sports best practices.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau I. Jibrin, who presided over the session said, “The essence of sports is to promote unity and competition and enhance brotherhood among the countries on the continent. The way our players were treated is terrible and condemnable.
Fortunately, you (Kawu) have come through a personal explanation, and this is what we intended it to do because we don’t want a diplomatic row. So, we call on the ambassador and whoever is concerned and the authorities to come out and apologise for what they have done to our national team.”
Earlier in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.
Akpabio said, “We demand a thorough investigation from the Disciplinary Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and appropriate sanctions to be meted out against those involved.”
In a similar vein, the House of Representatives has mandated its Committees on Sports and Foreign Affairs to probe the ill-treatment of the Super Eagles in Libya.
The House, while condemning the dehumanising treatment of the Eagles “in totality”, sympathised with them over their ordeal.
The House also passed a resolution urging the federal government to summon the Libya ambassador to Nigeria for explanations on what happened just as it urged the Nigerian 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.
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 food, 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, emphasizing the need for an urgent investigation to avoid a future occurrence.
