Man of the match Odion Ighalo chose the perfect time to prove  his goal scoring prowess at tournaments as he bagged a brace and provided an assist to dump title holders Cameroon out of the Afcon.

Nigeria opened the scores in the early minutes of the game through Ighalo's deflected strike after a free kick.

Stephane Bahoken pulled parity for the five time holders before Clinton Njie latched onto a perfect Yahaya Banana long ball over the top to slot past Daniel Akpeyi after a physical battle with full back Ola Aina.

Title holders Cameroon went into the break with a comfortable 2-1 lead but things turned sour midway through the second half.

Two goals in the space of three minutes swung the pendulum brightly in Nigeria's favour.

First Ighalo pulled parity with a well taken goal before setting up team mate Alex Iwobi to clinch what proved to be the winner despite Cameroon throwing everything at the Nigerian goal.

Nigeria who lost two nil to Madagascar in their last group game was at the receiving end of criticisms back home and on Social media but put out their best performance yet in the tournament sending title holders Cameroon back home.