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Ghana apologises as Nigeria deplores attacks on its embassy

By Joseph Onyekwere
22 June 2020   |   4:11 am
The President Nana Akufo-Addo administration, yesterday, apologised for the unprovoked overnight attacks on Nigeria’s diplomatic building in Accra, Ghana.

•FG seeks immediate arrest of perpetrators
The President Nana Akufo-Addo administration, yesterday, apologised for the unprovoked overnight attacks on Nigeria’s diplomatic building in Accra, Ghana.

In a statement issued by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghanaian government admitted that the demolition of the structure was a breach of diplomatic relations.

This came as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Geoffrey Onyeama, condemned the violence, demanding the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.

He said the assault by unknown persons was outrageous.

The minister therefore charged the Ghanaian authorities to take urgent action in unmasking those behind the aggression.

“We strongly condemn two outrageous criminal attacks in Accra, Ghana, on a residential building in our diplomatic premises by unknown persons in which a bulldozer was used to demolish the building.

“We are engaging the Ghanaian government and demand urgent action to find the perpetrators and provide adequate protection for Nigerians and their property in Ghana,” Onyeama tweeted via his verified twitter handle.

Also, the chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa described the incident as an insult to Nigerians, expressing optimism that the ministry would find a lasting solution having intervened.

In his remarks, a Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, Dr. Godwin Ichimi, sued for calm.

He stressed that urgent steps must be taken by Ghanaian security officials to protect Nigerian diplomats in that West African nation, and forestall further carnage and threat.

Ichimi stated that “it (the attack) is a gross violation of the immunity that diplomats are supposed to enjoy.”

“There is also need to take it up officially and the first step in that direction would be to invite the Ghanaian High Commission to Nigerian to provide more details as to what transpired, and what effort is being made to bring the situation under control,” he submitted.

The scholar recalled that prior to the incident, the two nations had a cordial relationship.

Armed men had broken into the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana and demolished apartments. Embassies are, by law, territories of the countries they represent.

So, attacking the Nigerian embassy is like attacking Abuja itself.

The affected buildings were reportedly being constructed to house staff and visitors.

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