Members of the Nigerian community have reported widespread arrests and fines in the nation after the Confederation of African Football’s ruling in response to the Nigeria Football Federation’s complaint about the Super Eagles’ recent cruel treatment in Libya.
When the Nigerian football team arrived for the second leg of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the Super Eagles and the Libyan national team, they were detained at the Al-Abraq Airport in eastern Libya for more than twenty hours.
The contingent was supposed to land at the Benghazi Airport and drive to Benina, the site of the match, for almost four hours.
Less than an hour prior to landing, however, Libyan authorities allegedly ordered the Tunisian pilot to change the flight’s destination to the 150-mile-away Al-Abraq Airport.
Widespread indignation over the development prompted the NFF to formally complain to CAF and remove the Super Eagles from the qualifying match.
The African football body’s disciplinary committee gave the Super Eagles of Nigeria three points and three goals for the postponed game in a decision signed by its chairman, Ousmane Kane, on Saturday, October 26.
The Libyan Football Federation was found to have violated Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code by the disciplinary board.
In addition, the panel mandated that the LFF pay a $50,000 fine within 60 days of receiving the decision.
LFF President Nasser Al-Suwai’I expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, calling it “unjust and malicious,” and claimed that the NFF’s power within CAF was a significant factor in the result.
Al-Suwai’I was quoted in a report published on Monday by the Libyan Observer, a Libyan outlet, as stating that the LFF would immediately file an official appeal and that, should the appeal be rejected, the organization would turn to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to make sure “their legitimate rights are secured.”
Campaign against Nigerians
“All Libyan TV channels are urging the government to arrest the Nigerian workers who are working here in Libya without legal papers,” published Libya News Today 1, a well-known Libyan news blog, on Sunday in response to the CAF ruling. They have to pay $500 plus taxes.
“The fine that Libya is accused of will be paid by Nigerian citizens who live in Libya. We have been subjected to injustice. We have no borders with Nigeria. What benefit are they to us? They’re a burden on the Libyan people. They have to go back home.”
The blog has more than 188,000 followers on Facebook and 57,000 likes.
A video of a Libyan TV host saying, “Anyone who is living in Libya and working without paying tax is eating haram, which means sinful money,” was included with the post. The government should try its best to detain all Nigerians employed in Libya so they can pay a $500 tax and obtain residence permits to control their stay in the country.
Libyan stations wanted the government to begin detaining Nigerian workers, according to Libya INF.TV, another Libyan website.
“Those who don’t have Libyan papers will have to pay a fine of $500 for taxes. If you refuse deportation, no mercy. The Libyan government will pay the Nigerian government from their citizens’ money,” the post said.
Mass arrests
Adenaike Emmanuel, a Nigerian residing in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, told Sunday PUNCH that the arrests started on Sunday following the release of the CAF statement in the nation.
“They have already started. When the news broke on Saturday, they claimed they could not accept it and that they would not be making the payment. They have started proving this.
“Someone called me and said they had already begun arresting people in his area. The same thing is happening here in Tripoli. In some places, people were arrested on Sunday morning and afternoon. As I mentioned before, Libyans don’t hide their feelings. They believe that by doing this, they are getting their revenge,” Adenaike stated.
In a video posted by several Nigerian blogs with a Libyan focus throughout the week, Peter Omoregbie, the president of the Nigerian community in Libya, also confirmed the arrests.
“The arrests started on Sunday night in some areas in Tedora,” Omoregbie confirmed in an official report at the Libyan immigration office on Monday. 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.”
“The football body is an association on its own, which the government is not supposed to interfere with according to CAF laws,” he said when asked to explain the incident’s background. Nigeria and Libya were scheduled to play football on October 15. Nigeria was supposed to arrive in Benghazi, but the match was canceled because they were diverted to another state. The Nigerian football team then returned home. Since then, CAF has conducted an investigation into the matter and established a committee to ascertain the truth.
“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. Many bloggers and Libyan journalists are now claiming on social media that all Nigerians in Libya will be arrested in order to force Nigeria to pay the $50,000 fine. 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.”
Omo Oba Legba, another Nigerian living in the nation, claimed that the number of arrests had increased two days after Omoregbie’s report.
He stated in a Wednesday Facebook video, “My Arab master, a police officer, just called me and told me not to go out and 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? According to my Arab, they will continue to detain Nigerians until the CAF fine is reversed. Please, we appeal to the Nigerian government to come to our aid.”
Similarly, a Nigerian begged the Libyan police to halt the indiscriminate arrests in a video that Libya INF.TV uploaded on Thursday.
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. I do not know what the Nigerian team is thinking when they come here to play football with the Libyans. You don’t have sense. Please, Libyan police, please.”
Libyan rights institution warns security agents
In the wake of the CAF ruling, Ahmed Hamza, the Chairman of the National Institution for Human Rights in Libya, has issued a warning against retaliatory actions against Nigerian employees in the nation.
According to Libya Review, Hamza pointed out that by depicting foreigners as illegal or irregular residents, certain media outlets were fostering animosity toward them.
“We caution against any kind of reprisal by security forces, armed groups, or citizens against foreign and migrant workers in Libya, particularly Nigerian workers,” Hamza said.
He issued a warning that illegal actions taken against foreigners may result in consequences for both domestic and even international justice.
A woman who only identified herself as Rose told Sunday PUNCH that she was not authorized to speak when Sunday PUNCH reached out to the Libyan Embassy in Abuja for comment.
She said, “As you can see, I am not the media secretary. Whatever information you need, kindly put it into writing and send it to the embassy. Then, they will respond to it. Address the letter to the ambassador of the Libyan embassy.”
In response to the request, our correspondent sent the embassy a letter of inquiry. However, 48 hours later, there was no response.
As of the time of publication, the Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli had not responded to a request for information.
Eche Abu-Obe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, responded to a call by stating, “I have sent a message to the Director Africa.”
Published by Ejoh Caleb
