Libya’s CAF Exco member, Abdul Hakim Al-Shalmani has
voiced out his disappointment over the testimony of the pilot who flew the
ValuJet aircraft that took the Nigerian delegation to the botched Africa Cup of
Nations qualifying match earlier this October.
Captain, Abdellatif Merchergui, a Tunisian pilot who
flew the ValueJet aircraft was a key witness Nigeria presented at the hearing
of the episode.
He is the Acting Head of Flight Operation at
ValueJet.
Al-Shalmani who is not an aviation expert, described
Merchergui’s testimony as “false and slanderous,” noting that the pilot
provided testimony that served his Nigeria’s interests “instead of adhering to
diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries of Libya and
Tunisia.”
He has threatened to follow-up with legal action
against Merchergui, as an official memorandum of complaint will be filed
against the Tunisian pilot who, according to Al-Shalmani, “violated the rules
of integrity and honesty.”
He also claimed that Nigeria latched on the fame of
its star-studded squad to sway global support for the Super Eagles.
According to Libya Akhbar publication, Al-Shalmani
pointed out that the Nigerian team exploited the fame of its professional
players in international leagues to create the impression that they were
victims of Libyan attacks or conspiracies.
Despite this media pressure, Al-Shalmani
expressed his denunciation of this strategy, stressing that the facts on the
ground are completely different from those that the Nigerian team is trying to
present. He added: “What the Nigerians are trying to portray as injustice on
our part is in fact an attempt to cover up the truth, as the testimony
presented was completely false.”
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