•‘Fans should brace up for ECOWAS border extortions’

Super Eagles Coach, Jose Peseiro, will trim his 41-man provisional squad to a manageable 25 players for the African Cup of Nations, a source close to the coach has said.

Nigeria, like all the qualified teams, are expected to submit its final squad list for the championship and the players’ jersey numbers to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) before January 2, 2024.

The championship will hold from January 13 to February 11, 2024, in six Ivoirian cities. According to the source, who pleaded anonymity, teams are allowed to register up to 27 players for the championship, but Peseiro has decided on a ‘manageable 25’ to ensure he has enough room to implement his tactics for Super Eagles’ campaign, which begins on January 13, 2024.

He said: “Everything is set for the team’s departure for Abu Dhabi, where we will play tune up matches against Burkina Faso and DR Congo in a three-nation pre-games competition.

“Burkina Faso are already in Abu Dhabi and the Eagles will arrive on January 2, stay for seven days before leaving for Cote d’Ivoire.

“As we speak, the chosen players’ clubs have been notified and have agreed to their departure for Abu Dhabi starting from this weekend. A Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) team will be in the Middle East country to receive the team on arrival.” He said the Super Eagles will train in UAE from January 2 to 9 before moving to Cote d’Ivoire.

Meanwhile, Nigerians hoping to be in Cote d’Ivoire for the African Cup of Nations have been warned to brace up for the extortion by Customs and Immigration officers at the borders of ECOWAS countries.

As West Africans, Nigerians are supposed to have a hitch-free movement to the host country as enshrined in the ECOWAS protocol. But that is far from the reality, according to a Canada-based Nigerian, who flew in for the Cup of Nations from his base.

According to the fan, travelling from Nigeria to Cote d’Ivoire by road is a difficult experience made worse by the extortions by immigration and Customs officers along the route.

He said: “The transport fare from Lagos to Cote d’Ivoire is N70,000, but when you get to the borders, officials of these West African countries see you as a target for extortion.”

“I have an ECOWAS passport, but for every border I passed I paid an average of 4,000 CFAS because they said I am holding a virgin passport, which has not been through the route before. In Ghana, I was charged 10,000 Ghanaian cedis. After paying 5,000 CFAs to enter Cote d’Ivoire, I was made to pay an additional 2,000 CFAs because I am Nigerian.

“I appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to do something about this. The Minister of Internal Affairs should look into the people at the Seme Border because they are a total disgrace. Cote d’Ivoire immigration said they are emulating what our men in Seme do to their people.” He said he spent up to N120,000 at the borders after paying N70,000 on transportation from Lagos. (The Guardian)

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