It Was Like Being Held Hostage, We Feared For Our Lives In Libya –Simon

Super Eagles winger Moses Simon has described the ordeal faced by the Nigerian team in Libya as terrifying, stating that the players felt like hostages and feared for their lives.

Simon’s comments come after the Nigerian team was held at Al-Abraq Airport for 15 hours ahead of their scheduled Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Libya. ‘We felt as though we were taken hostage.

When we arrived, there was no one. We ended up saying that we would have to sleep there. The federation had, however, try to manage to find us a hotel but it was forbidden to give a hotel to the Nigerians!

We stayed at the airport, without a bed without food or water, in the middle of the mosquitos,’ FC Nantes forward told L’Équipe. The Nantes star added that everyone was ‘scared’ about the situation.

‘When you see that they’re blocking the road, locking the doors in the airport, naturally you worry that something is going to happen to you,’ he said.

The Super Eagles decided to boycott the match and called on the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) to look into the barbaric and inhuman treatment meted to them by the Libyans.