The pilot made this while addressing newsmen in a video seen on X by SaharaReporters, accusing the Libyan government of changing their minds when Super Eagles were already in the air.
The Tunisian pilot who flew the chartered ValueJet aircraft that took Nigeria’s national football team, Super Eagles to Libya on Sunday has shared documents indicating the host country’s government approved their trip from Kano to Benghazi.
The pilot made this while addressing newsmen in a video seen on X by SaharaReporters, accusing the Libyan government of changing their minds when Super Eagles were already in the air.
While displaying the documentary evidence to corroborate his claims, the pilot said, "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.”
He continued: “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.
The pilot said, “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.”
The Super Eagles team returned back to Nigeria on Monday evening after they allegedly experienced maltreatment and hostilities from their host.
The players, with the approval of the Nigerian Football Federation, decided to withdraw from playing their upcoming African Cup of Nations(AFCON) qualifying match against Libya.
The Confederation of African Football had equally begun a proper investigation into the case of maltreatment instituted by the Nigerian team.
However, in recent posts shared on its various social media platforms on Tuesday morning, the CAF had delisted Nigeria and Libya’s match from today’s fixtures.