After the Confederation of African Football (CAF) verdict on the Nigerian Football Federation’s complaint regarding the Super Eagles’ treatment in Libya, reports from Libya indicate an uptick in arrests and fines targeting Nigerians.
Upon arrival in Libya for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match, Nigeria’s Super Eagles were detained at Al-Abraq Airport for over 20 hours, despite being initially scheduled to land in Benghazi and travel to Benina, where the game was set to take place. The change in flight destination, ordered by Libyan authorities less than an hour before landing, forced the Nigerian team to withdraw from the match, prompting an official complaint to CAF.
On October 26, CAF’s disciplinary body awarded Nigeria three points and goals for the canceled match, citing Libya’s breach of AFCON regulations. In addition, the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) was fined $50,000, a decision the LFF president criticized as “unjust and malicious,” alleging undue influence by the NFF.
In reaction to the CAF decision, social media posts by popular Libyan blogs have called for Nigerian workers in Libya to bear the financial penalty through arrests and fines. “All Libyan TV channels are urging the government to arrest the Nigerian workers who are working here in Libya without legal papers. They have to pay $500 plus taxes,” one blog post stated.
Reports from Nigerians in Libya indicate that these arrests began shortly after CAF’s verdict was publicized. “They have already started,” said Adenaike Emmanuel, a Nigerian resident in Tripoli. “In some places, people were arrested on Sunday morning and afternoon.”
Peter Omoregbie, head of the Nigerian community in Libya, confirmed the arrests, stating, “They are arresting innocent people. They don’t even care whether you have passports or residence permits.”
A former Nigerian ambassador has urged the government to document these incidents and consider a formal complaint to the African Union, saying, “If Nigerians collate evidence of the maltreatment, the Federal Government can protest directly to the Libyan government.”
Libyan rights organizations have also warned against retaliatory acts, highlighting that hostility towards foreign workers could have both domestic and international legal repercussions.