Libya begins mass arrest of Nigerians after CAF verdict

Following the verdict delivered by the Confederation of African Football in response to the complaint lodged by the Nigeria Football Federation over the recent inhumane treatment meted out to the Super Eagles in Libya, members of the Nigerian community have reported mass arrests and fines in the country.

The Nigerian football team was held at the Al-Abraq Airport in eastern Libya for over 20 hours upon arrival for the second leg of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the Super Eagles and Libya’s national team, reports Sunday PUNCH.

The contingent was scheduled to land at the Benghazi Airport and travel for nearly four hours by road to Benina, where the match was to be played.

However, less than an hour before landing, the Tunisian pilot reportedly received a directive from Libyan authorities to divert the flight to the Al-Abraq Airport, located 150 miles away from the destination.

The development sparked widespread outrage, forcing the NFF to withdraw the Super Eagles from the qualifying match and file an official complaint to CAF.

In its ruling on Saturday, October 26, signed by its Chairman, Ousmane Kane, the disciplinary committee of the African football body awarded the Super Eagles of Nigeria three points and three goals for the abandoned match.

The disciplinary board ruled that the Libyan Football Federation breached Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations and Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.

The panel also ordered the LFF to pay a fine of $50,000 within 60 days of the notification of the decision.

Displeased with the verdict, the LFF President Nasser Al-Suwai’I described it as “unjust and malicious,” alleging that the NFF’s influence within CAF played a major role in the outcome.

A report on Monday by a Libyan outlet, Libyan Observer, quoted Al-Suwai’I saying the LFF would file an official appeal within hours and that if the appeal was denied, the body would resort to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to ensure “their legitimate rights are secured.”

Campaign against Nigerians

Following the CAF ruling, a popular Libyan news blog, Libya News Today 1, posted on Sunday, stating, “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.

“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.

The post was accompanied by a video of a Libyan TV presenter, who said, “Anyone who is living in Libya and working without paying tax is eating haram, which means sinful money. The government should make every effort to arrest all Nigerians who are working in Libya so that they can pay a tax of $500 and regulate their stay in the country by obtaining residence permits.”

Another Libyan site, Libya INF.TV, reported that Libyan stations wanted the government to start arresting Nigerian workers.

“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

Speaking with our correspondent, a Nigerian living in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, Adenaike Emmanuel, said the arrests began on Sunday after the CAF statement was released in the country.

“They have already started. The news came out on Saturday, and they were saying they can’t accept it and that they are not the ones who will pay the money. 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.

The President of the Nigerian community in Libya, Peter Omoregbie, also confirmed the arrests in a video shared by multiple Libya-based Nigerian blogs during the week.

Omoregbie, who confirmed this while making an official report at the Libyan immigration office on Monday, said, “The arrests started on Sunday night in some areas in Tedora. 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.”

When asked to provide background to the incident, he said, “The football body is an association on its own, which the government isn’t supposed to interfere with according to CAF laws. There was a football match scheduled between Nigeria and Libya on October 15. Nigeria was supposed to arrive in Benghazi, but they were diverted to another state, so the match could not take place. The Nigerian football team then returned home. Since then, CAF has investigated the issue and set up a committee to find out what really happened.

“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. Now, on social media, Libyan journalists and numerous bloggers are saying that Nigeria will be made to pay the $50,000 fine by arresting all Nigerians in Libya. 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.”

Two days after Omoregbie’s report, another Nigerian in the country, Omo Oba Legba, said the arrests had intensified.

In a Facebook video posted on Wednesday, he said, “My Arab master, who is a policeman, just called me now and told me not to go out to 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? My Arab told me that until the CAF fine is overturned, they won’t stop arresting Nigerians. Please, we appeal to the Nigerian government to come to our aid.”

Similarly, Libya INF.TV posted a video on Thursday where a Nigerian pleaded with the Libyan police to stop the indiscriminate arrests.

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. And to the Nigerian team, I don’t know what you’re thinking, coming here to play football with the Libyan people. You don’t have sense. Please, Libyan police, please.”

Libyan rights institution warns security agents

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Institution for Human Rights in Libya, Ahmed Hamza, has warned against retaliatory acts targeting Nigerian workers in the country in the aftermath of the CAF ruling.

According to Libya Review, Hamza noted that some media platforms were inciting hostility towards foreigners by portraying them as illegal or irregular residents.

“We warn against any form of retaliation against foreign and migrant workers in Libya, especially Nigerian workers, by security forces, armed groups, or citizens,” Hamza stated.

He cautioned that unlawful actions against foreigners could lead to repercussions in domestic and even international justice.

When our correspondent contacted the Libyan Embassy in Abuja for comments, a lady who identified herself simply as Rose said she was not authorised to talk.

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.”

Our correspondent wrote a letter of inquiry to the embassy as requested. However, 48 hours later, there was no response.

A request for information from the Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli was also not replied to as of press time.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eche Abu-Obe, simply said, “I have sent a message to the Director Africa.”

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission had yet to respond to calls and a text message by our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.

Ex-envoy urges probe

A former Nigerian ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, said the federal government should investigate the retaliatory arrests and report Libya to the African Union.

He said, “The Nigerian government doesn’t have hardcore evidence, and if they do, they should report Libya to the African Union. If Nigerians collate evidence of the maltreatment, the federal government can protest directly to the Libyan government over what Nigerians are facing.”

Amedu-Ode further advised Nigerians in the Arab country to keep low profiles until the situation was under control.

“If the atmosphere is too hot for them, they should leave Libya,” he added.