About 48 hours after the diplomatic building of the Nigerian High Commission in Accra was demolished by unknown persons, the Government of Ghana on Sunday said it has begun an investigation into the incident.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration ministry said it “has beefed up security at the said facility and the situation is under control.”
“Accordingly, investigations are ongoing to unravel the facts of the matter and bring the perpetrators to book.”
The Ghanaian government’s response comes after claims of an underlying diplomatic row between Nigeria and Ghana resurfaced when the Nigeria High Commission in Accra, Ghana’s capital was attacked on Friday.
What happened?
Ghanaian-based JoyNews reported that the armed men stormed the Nigerian High Commissioner’ residence in Accra with bulldozers to demolish a block of apartments in the diplomatic building on Friday night.
The building which was still undergoing construction was being built to house staff and visiting diplomats to the Nigeria High Commission in Ghana.
JoyNews editor Fred Smith said the armed men threatened to shoot staff of the Nigerian embassy who were present at the scene if they interfere in their operations.
According to the head of security at the High Commission Emmanuel Kabutey, the leader of the team that came to demolish the building told them that they had the backing of National Security and that “if any of us try, he will clear us off.”
Insistent that the demolition being backed by authorities in the Ghanaian Government, Kabutey complained about the lacklustre attitude of the police in handling the situation.
“When the police came, they did not come to us or any other person but rather went straight to the man [leader of the armed men] they had a friendly chat, exchanged numbers with him and allowed him to go,” Kabutey told JoyNews.
“When they came back in, they took pictures but did not ask me or my boys anything.”
Nigeria Government speaks
Nigerian Government on Sunday confirmed the incident and demanded immediate actions be taken by Ghana authorities on the incident.
“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,” Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyema said.
Onyeama did not disclose details of his conversation with the Ghanaian government on the attack which was also reported on the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana’s website.
The latest attack is, however, not the first time that the residency of the Nigerian embassy in Ghana has been threatened by alleged intimidation from the host country.
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