By John Okoh
The demolished building above.
The diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Ghana that dipped earlier in the year when the Ghanaian government evicted the former Nigerian High Commissioner Ambassador Femi Abikoye from his home over delayed renewal of the lease on his official residence boiled over at the weekend when Nigerians resident in that country protested the demolition of a building located within the premises of the Nigerian Consulate.
A Ghanaian businessman is allegedly laying claim to the land on which the property was built.
In a swift reaction to the development, Minister of Foreign Affairs,Geoffrey Onyeama tweeted on Sunday that the Ghanaian government must protect the lives of Nigerian as well as arrest and prosecute the culprits that instigated the crisis. According to the Minister in his twitter handle @GeoffreYOnyeama on Sunday, the Federal Government would be monitoring the situation closely for compliance with its demand.
He said; “We strongly condemn two outrageous and criminal the 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.”
The Ghanaian government has however promised to unravel the source of the problem and deal with it according to international law governing diplomatic relations among countries.
In a press sgtatement issued by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on Sunday, the ministry stated that it “views with grave concern”… the alleged breach of the Nigeria High Commission in Accra and demolition of a property under construction around 10:30pm on Friday… is a breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relation, VCDR, 1961.”
While it regretted the action and reassured the diplomatic community and Nigeria High Commission that the country is law abiding, the Ministry said it had beefed up security at the facility , adding that “investigations are ungoing to unravel the facts of the matter and bring the perpetrators to book”
