The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has debunked the report published by Libya Observer that Nigeria had apologised to Libya over the Super Eagles detention fiasco.
The Minister in a statement released by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, said it was a misrepresentation of the phone correspondence with Libya’s East-based Government’s Foreign Minister.
“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.
“After that, the aircraft was given the necessary permits to fly, and aviation fuel was accessed,” he said.
Abdulkadir added that “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.
“He did not apologise or regret the treatment of Libyan officials and players because the account was inaccurate.”
