Kenyan international David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng has castigated Nigeria for reacting strongly after being served with a dose of their own medicine in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier return match to Libya.The match did not take place as scheduled due to the shameful events witnessed at the Al Abraq Airport where Nigerian players were left stranded with no food for over 12 hours. The Super Eagles had won the first leg 1-0 courtesy of Fissayo Dele-Bashiru’s late strike on Friday, 11 October and we’re hoping to gather three more points in the return leg scheduled for four days later. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8244455####NAJAVA_MECA_8424478##However, the encounter was postponed after Nigeria’s chartered plane, which was destined for Benghazi, was diverted to Al Abraq where the players were allegedly not allowed to leave. It was reported that Libya had to grapple with poor treatment and reception in the first leg but their predicaments were nearly swept under the carpet. Reacting to what Nigeria underwent in Libya, Cheche could not help but recall what the West African country subjected Harambee Stars during a 2014 World Cup qualifier in the city of Calabar. Horror scenes in Libya as Nigerian stars claim they’re held hostages at airport!?Cheche, who partnered with Brian Mandela at the heart of the defence in the 1-1 draw, recounted how Nigeria denied Stars an opportunity to train in a decent facility. Stars were forced to train in a local primary school’s grounds after Nigeria failed to avail a good stadium for the visiting team and had to put up with long hours on the road among other atrocities. Cheche called out Nigeria for having a history of mistreating visiting teams and engaging in gamesmanship yet they had arsenals to comfortably win matches. “I sympathise with what Nigerian players underwent in Libya. Such shameful events should not be happening in this day and age. It is, however, important for Nigeria to have an honest conversation with themselves on how they treat visiting teams. They have a history of doing it and should change,” he told Mozzart Sport. Nigeria to boycott the Libya game after “inhumane treatment”Cheche, called for an end to teams employing dirty tactics to win home matches as it was against the spirit of fairness and sportsmanship. ” The Nigerian team has the quality to win matches. I fail to understand why they should be embracing some tactics which have been overtaken by time. Football is about friendship and it is time African teams, that engage in such, styled up,” added the Kenya Police defender.
