The Nigerian delegation of Super Eagles players, officials and other accompanying support staff finally returned to Nigeria at 6.01pm after nearly 24 hours of being held hostage in an airport in Al Albaq by Libyan authorities.

The Super Eagles, who arrived the North African country for a reverse fixture of an AFCON 2025 qualifiers on Sunday afternoon, were in that country to play the Libyan national football team.

But the trip turned into a nightmare for the Nigerian delegation when barely one hour to landing in the approved airport in Benghazi, the flight was denied access and rerouted to another airport, almost three hours away from Benina, the city for the Tuesday night encounter.

Moments after the chartered ValueJet aircraft ferrying the contingent touched down in the Al Albaq airport, hell was let loose.

Exit gates from the airport were locked, while security personnel surrounded the facility, thereby refusing the Nigerians from leaving.

That was how the ordeal of the delegation began that lasted almost 24 hours before they were allowed to fly back to Nigeria late Monday afternoon.

The Media Officer of the Super Eagles, Promise Efoghe, announced the arrival of the team at the Kano International Airport at 6.01pm Monday evening.