Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has denied that the country apologised to Libya over the recent detention of the Super Eagles in Benghazi.
Tuggar spoke in the wake of a false claim by The Libya Observer that Nigeria had issued an apology.
In a statement yesterday (Wednesday, October 16) by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media and Communication Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar explained that the report misrepresented a phone call between Tuggar and Libya’s Eastern-based Foreign Minister, Abdelhadi Lahweej.
Instead of an apology, Nigeria expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment of its national team and called for a prompt resolution of the issue.
“The fact of the matter was that the CDA of the Government of National Unity was summoned to the Ministry to seek an immediate end to the unfortunate incident.
“However, not much diplomatic headway was made during the meeting with the Acting Charge of Affairs, Imad Mohammed Matooq Aboud, as they insisted that it was not under the jurisdiction of Tripoli, which they represented, but that of the Eastern Government in Benghazi.
“This prompted the Minister to take immediate action by contacting the Foreign Minister of the Eastern Government, Abdelhadi Lahweej, to intervene and ensure that the detention ended,” the statement read.
According to Tuggar, he then went straight to the Benghazi administration in the East to step in and help. Following discussions, the situation was de-escalated and the Super Eagles were able to depart Libya when the required licenses were issued.
It added: “After that, the aircraft was given the necessary permits to fly, and aviation fuel was accessed. Both Ministers agreed that the matter should be de-escalated immediately. Even when Lahweej insisted on rehashing the untruth about the treatment of Libyan players in Nigeria, Amb Tuggar once again corrected the misinformation about the mistreatment of Libyan players during the Nigerian encounter.”
The minister also addressed misinformation regarding the treatment of Libyan players in Nigeria by Lahweej, correcting the record but refusing to apologise for any actions, as the claims were inaccurate.
