Nigeria Embassy Demolished in Ghana
Following the demolition incident at the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema on behalf of the Federal government had a meeting the Chargè d’ Affaires of the High Commission of Ghana to Nigeria, Ms Iva Denoo, over the demolition of parts of the Nigerian embassy.
Geoffrey Onyema made this known in a tweet gotten from his verified Twitter handle.
“We summoned the Chargè d’ Affaires of the High Commission of #Ghana to Nigeria, Ms Iva Denoo to demand urgent explanation on the recent attacks on a residential building in our diplomatic premises and reinforcement of security around diplomatic premises and staff.”
The Nigerian government confirmed and responded to an attack on its embassy in Accra, demanding that the Ghanaian government take immediate action.
This is as a result of a demolition that took place on the said building by 10:30 am on Friday, June 19, where armed men reportedly stormed the embassy in Accra, Ghana and demolished a block of flats in the building.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs continued his statement by tweeting,
“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. ”
After launching an investigation to find the culprits, Ghana reassured by saying that it ‘has beefed up security at the said facility and the situation is under control’
Part of the statement by Ghana’s Foreign Affairs read, “It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration that unidentified individuals had allegedly breached the premises of the Nigerian High Commission in Accra and demolished its property under construction around 10:30 a.m., on Friday, June 19, 2020.
“Accordingly, investigations are ongoing to unravel the facts of the matter and bring the perpetrators to book. Meanwhile, the government of Ghana has beefed up security at the said facility and the situation is under control.”
This is a matter of Diplomatic Concern as it is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and is coming barely five months after Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied evicting the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana.