By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
There are indications that the evidence of the pilot who flew the ValueJet aircraft which conveyed Nigeria’s senior football team, Super Eagles to Libya last Sunday to honour the botched Libya versus Nigeria 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) return leg match will be vital to nail the Libyan authorities.
The match was billed for Martyrs of February Stadium in Benghazi on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Prompt News recalls that the Nigerian delegation comprising Super Eagles players, coaching and backroom staff, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) hierarchy, members of National Assembly and travelling journalists, pilot and crew members were held incommunicado at Al Abraq Airport for more than 15 hours without food and drink from Sunday to Monday evening before returning to Nigeria frustrated and pulling out of the match entirely.
Consequent upon the development, CAF has postponed the Libya versus Nigeria match indefinitely and has referred the case to its relevant bodies to deal with through a terse statement published on its website.
“The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Qualifier fixture between Libya and Nigeria will not take place as scheduled tonight. The matter will be referred to the competent CAF bodies”, CAF said in a statement yesterday.
But Prompt News has exclusively gathered that the detailed account of the Tunisia-born ValueJet Bombardier CRJ700 series pilot who expertly piloted the aircraft to land at sub-standard Al Abraq Airport has exposed how Libyan authorities against known aviation laws ordered him mid-air to divert Super Eagles flight from original destination of Benina International Airport in Benghazi to a farther Al Abraq Airport without adequate navigational aids at night.
According to the pilot who has volunteered to give evidence if summoned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) relevant bodies, the Libyan authorities put the lives of the people in the aircraft in grave danger by diverting the plane to Al Abraq Airport even after he told the Libyans that his aircraft was short on fuel to make it to the Airport.
The pilot has brandished documents that showed that the host country’s government approved Super Eagles trip from Kano, Nigeria to Benghazi, Libya, saying that, “All the evidence is here. These are the documents. In aviation we cannot hide anything. We can not say what is wrong because there is a lot of crosschecking. They can’t hide this information or say anything other the truth.”
Continuing, he said: “The truth was we were going to Benghazi. I can show the evidence of the approval. I have it. After that they changed their mind, at the last minute they changed airports. The airport is a domestic airport. It is not well equipped. I worked there for two years and I know the area very well. it was not a easy matter at all.”
The pilot had earlier explained how he warned the Libyan authorities at least eight times against diverting his flight but the Libyan authorities refused to listen to him.
He said he reached out to them at least eight times explaining to them that he had fuel shortage which might not be enough to cover the diverted distance and that it was a breach of safety but he was turned down with an excuse that the order was from the highest Libyan authority.
Said he: “The flight plane was to land at the destination which was Benghazi Benina and we got approval from the Libyan aviation authorities to land but unfortunately when we signed to land they asked us to divert to Al-Abraq International Airport which is at almost 150 miles, that is 300 kilometres, more far, but it is at the east.
“It was not even our alternate. It is not good because in aviation we have our flight men, we calculate the fuel to our destination to avoid this kind of thing because it makes a breach to safety.
“I and my flight men explained to the Benghazi authority but they said no, that it was an order from the highest authorities and that Al-Abraq is better.”
With the overwhelming documentary evidences provided by the pilot and Nigerian officials, CAF should not allow this type of dark arts by the Libyan authorities and the football federation to go unpunished especially as the ordeal of the Nigerian delegation have been reported and broadcast by international media organisations including the Cable News Network (CNN).
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