NIGERIA’S HIGH COMMISSION IN GHAHA: DEMOLIMOTION OF RESIDENCE VIOLATES 1961 VIENNA CONVENTION
Oru Leonard
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria has condemned the demolition of the Nigeria High Commission in Accra, Ghana, stating that the action is in clear violation of the extant provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on inviolability of diplomatic premises.
This was stated in a press release signed by Mr Ferdinand Nwonye, the Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affair in Abuja, on Sunday, 22 June, 2020.
“The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has be drawn, by the Nigeria High Commission, Accra, Ghana, to the fact that some unidentified persons purportedly on the instruction of the Ghana Urban Development Agency, willfully carried out the demolition of a building belonging to the Nigeria High Commission and located within the premises of the High Commissioner’s Residence in Accra, without prior notification” the Ministry expressed.
The Nigeria High Commission said that a strongly worded letter of protest to the host Foreign Ministry, unequivocally registering the displeasure of the Nigerian Government and calling on the competent Ghanaian authorities to take urgent steps to apprehend the perpetrators and provide appropriate security for the High Commission’s premises and staff.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is engaging robustly with the Ghanaian Government with a view to seeking immediate redress”, the statement concluded.
