By Attah Ede
Nigeria top striker and former African Footballer of the year, Victor Osimhen, has hinted his intention of quitting the national team following his open-pitch- confrontation with his teammate, Ademola Lookman during the round of 16 encounter between Nigeria and Mozambique in the ongoing AFCON in Morocco.
The former Napoli goal king was said to have dropped his accreditation and threatened to quit Nigeria’s AFCON squad entirely after his altercation with Lookman on the pitch.
It would be recalled that in 2024, Osimhen threatened to quit the national team after his rift with the then-head coach, Finidi George on social media.
His latest display of needless provocation is viewed by many around the team as a more serious and disturbing one.
There was a heated on-pitch exchange between Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during the Super Eagles’ 4-0 win over Mozambique in the last 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday night.
While the Super Eagles comfortably secured qualification for the quarter-final, the moment has dominated post-match discussions, drawing strong reactions across social media platforms, a development that had made Osimhen to start threatening to dump the national team.
Both Osimhen and Lookman got on the score sheet in the first half, with Lookman providing the two assists for Osimhen’s goals.
However, an incident occurred in the 63rd minute, which saw Osimhen angrily confront Lookman after the winger appeared to have failed to square the ball to Osimhen, and instead took a shot.
Few minutes later, Osimhen stopped running in attack and asked head coach, Eric Chelle to take him off
Video footage circulating online showed Osimhen pointing at Lookman and shouting in frustration before requesting to be substituted.
At the end of 90 minutes of the game, Osimhen moved straight down the dressing room while the rest of the squad and coaching staff were still on the pitch.
He left the dressing room early and sat alone on the team bus as teammates remained inside conducting media duties.
Those present described a striking absence of effort to console or check on the vice-captain.
Reports from within the camp highlighted that Osimhen came out of the stadium after the match, dropped his accreditation, and declared he was “done” with the national team, insisting he was returning to Turkey.
It is understood that senior Nigeria Football Federation figures moved to reach him, with the federation’s president reportedly seeking to pacify the striker. However, some officials were said to believe he should be left alone to cool off.
With Reports from Arise TV
