How I Was Forced To Divert Super Eagles Flight By Libyan Govt – Pilot

The pilot of the chartered plane that flew the Super Eagles to Libya has disclosed that Libyan authorities forced him to divert the flight to the substandard Al-Abraq Airport.

According to reports, the diversion to Al-Abraq, a remote airport, instead of their intended destination of Benghazi, has sparked a diplomatic dispute between Nigeria and Libya.

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While the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) accused the Libyan side of deliberately causing the situation, the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) denied any mistreatment, blaming the disruption on logistical issues.

In a video interview shared on X by Pooja Media, the Tunisian pilot revealed that the diversion was unexpected and risky. Despite his warnings to Libyan officials, his concerns were ignored.

He explained that the original flight plan had been to land at Benghazi’s Benina Airport, and they had received approval from Libya’s Civil Aviation Authority to do so.

However, during the descent, they were suddenly instructed to reroute to Al-Abraq, a location nearly 150 miles (around 300 kilometres) east of their destination—far beyond what was planned, even as an alternative airport.

The pilot highlighted the potential dangers of such last-minute changes, stressing that the decision was unsafe.

“In aviation, we have our flight plan, we calculate the fuel to our destination, so we have to avoid this kind of thing because it may make a breach to safety.

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“When I asked to land in Benghazi according to my flight plan and according to my authorisation, they said no, it’s from the highest authority; you have to land in Al-Abraq.

“Everything is registered in aviation, we cannot hide anything, so I asked them several times, at least eight times, and I warned them, probably I will be in trouble for fuel; they said it’s from the highest authority, you cannot land in Benghazi, you have to divert immediately to Al-Abraq,” he added.

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