The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has warned against the mistreatment of Nigerians abroad after Napoli mocked Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen, earlier in the week.
Recall that earlier in the week, the Italian club took to their official TikTok page to share two separate videos mocking Osimhen, who has been the team’s backbone, ever since he arrived from French club, Lille, last season.
Tuhgar, in his reaction to Napoli’s decision to mock Osimhen for missing a penalty against Bologna on Sunday, September 24, noted that foreign-based Nigerian athletes must be treated with respect.
The videos offended the 24-year-old striker to the extent that he decided to delete virtually every picture related to Napoli from his Instagram page.
He was also captured on video snubbing some of his teammates when he arrived at the team’s hotel ahead of their 4-1 win over Udinese on Wednesday.
INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that his agent, Roberto Calenda, threatened to take the club to court over the mockery.
In a statement on Saturday by his media aide, Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar said that every Nigerian living abroad has a right to a life that is sacrosanct and deserving of respect under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The statement reads: “When we go about our duties, we should always remember Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
“They are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
The minister added: “Napoli did not act in the spirit of brotherhood by mocking her star player, Victor Osimhen, who was instrumental to the team winning the Serie A championship last season.”
