Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, says the
federal government has demanded sanctions against Indonesian officials who
assaulted a Nigerian diplomat recently.
The diplomatic agent, simply identified as Ibrahim, was
reportedly accosted by the Indonesian police when he went to a supermarket.
In a video that has since gone viral, the man can be heard
shouting “I can’t breathe”, as he was being held down in a vehicle by several
men.
The federal government subsequently wrote a letter to the Indonesian government
to protest the assault, after the video was circulated on social media.
Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, in an earlier
statement, had said the Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria has apologised over
the assault.
“The Nigerian Government has complained strongly to the
Government of Indonesia, and the Ambassador of Indonesia to Nigeria was
summoned by the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
“The Ambassador explained what he understood happened and
apologised unreservedly on behalf of the Government of Indonesia.
“The Ambassador of Nigeria to Indonesia has confirmed that
the immigration officials involved had since come to the Nigerian Embassy to
apologise to the Ambassador and the diplomat concerned.”
Speaking further on the development at a media briefing on
Tuesday, Onyeama said the federal government demanded that the officials
involved be sanctioned.
Onyeama said Usra Harahap, Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria,
was summoned over the incident, while Usman Ogah, Nigerian ambassador to
Indonesia, has been recalled.
“The first thing the ministry did was to request that the
ambassador submits to the ministry a full and comprehensive report of what
happened, and to immediately reach the ministry of foreign affairs of Indonesia
to lodge a formal and a strong complaint against the actions of the immigration
officers as their action violated the Vienna Convention,” he said.
“The following day, which was Monday, we summoned the
ministry of foreign affairs, the ambassador of Indonesia to Nigeria and again,
complained in the strongest terms regarding what had taken place as totally
unacceptable under any circumstances whatsoever.
“He, of course, communicated the report that he had received
from his capital as to what had transpired. And later yesterday, in the evening,
we received a full and comprehensive report from the Nigerian ambassador in
Indonesia.
“We have studied the report and reinforced our previous
position that there was absolutely no justification whatsoever for this
treatment for this kind of behaviour against not only a diplomat, a Nigerian
diplomat, but even if it had taken place against any Nigerian citizen, was
totally unacceptable.
“So, what we have decided to do is to recall for
consultations immediately, our Nigerian ambassador in Jakarta, Indonesia, and
we will have full consultations at the highest level and decide what next step
to take, including a review, of course, of our relations with Indonesia.
“We have also requested the Indonesian government to take
severe and appropriate sanctions against the immigration officials that were
involved in this act of brazen criminality.
“We call on you all to be patient and calm as we get fully
to the bottom of this for our ambassador to arrive and for consultations to
take place and we assure you that an appropriate response will be forthcoming.”
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