Nigeria travelled to Benin by boat for their penultimate 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game in Porto Novo, Goal has reported.
The Super Eagles who were earlier camped in Lagos, left the Southwestern part of Nigeria a day before Saturday’s clash at the Charles de Gaulle Stadium.
There was the assurance of adequate security for Gernot Rohr’s men and they would be expected to return to Lagos by Sunday for their final Afcon qualifying fixture against Lesotho at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
Nigeria lead the Group L table after picking up eight points from four matches and Benin trail the three-time African champions by just a point in second spot.
Back in November 2019, Nigeria defeated Benin 2-1 in their first qualifying match as goals from Victor Osimhen and Samuel Kalu cancelled out Stephane Sessegnon’s opener to give the hosts maximum points at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.
Earlier this month, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick said the FA was contemplating either going to Benin by road or by boat with support from the Lagos State Government.
“Going to Cotonou by boat, I do that all the time when we were going to inspect, we did it, there’s nothing wrong in exploring other forms of adventure in Nigeria,” Pinnick said.
“There’s nobody in Lagos that has not been to Ilashe or been to Tarkwa Bay, so it’s the same thing, so what’s the big deal?
“Look at the Lagos boat terminal, it’s one of the best in the world that I’ve seen, so why don’t we use all those things if we have them?
“So it’s just a projection, we have not agreed on it. We are looking at going by road to Cotonou which is our next-door neighbour because even if you want to leave Eko Hotel to the Murtala Muhammed Airport it is half the journey of going to Cotonou, so why do you need to fly and go to Cotonou?
“We might either go by road, we are working with the Lagos State Government, from here I have a meeting with the Lagos State Governor.
“All those are things we want to explore and see what is best suited for that and once we say we are going by the creeks to Cotonou, of course, we’ll provide every requisite, will provide the enabling environment for them to go in terms of security, in terms of everything.
“But people should look at Nigeria beyond that, there’s no country in this world that doesn’t have black spots but we live and try to live.”
