Libyan security agencies had began an indiscriminate mass arrest of Nigerians in the Arab country.
Officials of Nigerian community in the country revealed that the action was sequel to the verdict delivered by the Confederation of African Football in response to the complaint lodged by the Nigeria Football Federation over the recent inhumane treatment meted out to the Super Eagles in Libya.
The President of the Nigerian community in Libya, Peter Omoregbie, revealed this in a video shared by multiple Libya-based Nigerian blogs during the week.
Omoregbie, who said he has made an official report at the Libyan immigration office on Monday, added that, “The arrests started on Sunday night in some areas in Tedora. They are arresting innocent people. They don’t even care whether you have passports or residence permits. They just don’t care, which doesn’t happen in other countries.”
Heo said, “The football body is an association on its own, which the government isn’t supposed to interfere with according to CAF laws. There was a football match scheduled between Nigeria and Libya on October 15. Nigeria was supposed to arrive in Benghazi, but they were diverted to another state, so the match could not take place. The Nigerian football team then returned home. Since then, CAF has investigated the issue and set up a committee to find out what really happened.
“Yesterday, the verdict was issued that Libya has to pay a fine of $50,000 to CAF due to the way they treated the Nigerian football team. Now, on social media, Libyan journalists and numerous bloggers are saying that Nigeria will be made to pay the $50,000 fine by arresting all Nigerians in Libya. But in other countries, nothing like that happens.
“As the community leader, I received some videos showing that the arrests started last night in the Tedora area. They said the Libyan police have started arresting Nigerians, whether they have passports or not. Some of us are already afraid, calling everywhere to ask what to do. Sometimes, as community leaders, we are helpless. Even the Nigerian Embassy’s hands are sometimes tied. But international bodies need to intervene in this situation.”
Forty eight hours after Omoregbie’s report, another Nigerian in the country, Omo Oba Legba, confirmed that the arrests had continued.
He said in his Facebook video posted on Wednesday, that, “My Arab master, who is a policeman, just called me now and told me not to go out to buy anything because they have started arresting Nigerians in Libya. I asked him, ‘What about those with Libyan passports?’ But he said they aren’t considering passports and that anyone who is Nigerian will be arrested. That’s why I decided to alert our people so they know how far this issue has gone.
“The Super Eagles had what they needed to and returned. They got their money, whether they won or not. But see the problem they’ve caused for us. If Nigeria was good, we wouldn’t have come to Libya to suffer. The Nigerian team only faced a day of hardship—what about other Nigerians here who face the same treatment every day? My Arab told me that until the CAF fine is overturned, they won’t stop arresting Nigerians. Please, we appeal to the Nigerian government to come to our aid.”
Also, the Libya INF.TV posted a video on Thursday where a Nigerian pleaded with the Libyan police to stop the indiscriminate arrests.
He said, “Football has nothing to do with us. If you want to catch them, catch them when they come here. Leave us out of this. And to the Nigerian team, I don’t know what you’re thinking, coming here to play football with the Libyan people. You don’t have sense. Please, Libyan police, please.”
The Nigerian football team was held at the Al-Abraq Airport in eastern Libya for over 20 hours upon arrival for the second leg of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the Super Eagles and Libya’s national team.
The contingent was scheduled to land at the Benghazi Airport and travel for nearly four hours by road to Benina, where the match was to be played.
However, less than an hour before landing, the Tunisian pilot reportedly received a directive from Libyan authorities to divert the flight to the Al-Abraq Airport, located 150 miles away from the destination.
The development sparked widespread outrage, forcing the NFF to withdraw the Super Eagles from the qualifying match and file an official complaint to CAF.
It would be recalled that on Saturday, October 26, Chairman, Ousmane Kane, the disciplinary committee of the African football body awarded the Super Eagles of Nigeria three points and three goals for the abandoned match.
The disciplinary board ruled that the Libyan Football Federation breached Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations and Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
The panel also ordered the LFF to pay a fine of $50,000 within 60 days of the notification of the decision.
Displeased with the verdict, the LFF President Nasser Al-Suwai’I described it as “unjust and malicious,” alleging that the NFF’s influence within CAF played a major role in the outcome.
A Libyan outlet, Libyan Observer, reported Al-Suwai’I saying the LFF would file an official appeal within hours and that if the appeal was denied, the body would resort to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to ensure “their legitimate rights are secured.”
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eche Abu-Obe, simply said, “I have sent a message to the Director Africa.”
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission had yet to react to the development as of the time of filing this report.
