Group wants Indonesian embassy staff in Nigeria declared persona non grata, country’s ambassador expelled

The Association of Foreign Relations Professionals of Nigeria (AFRPN) has commended the recall of the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, Usman Ogah, by the Nigerian Government.

However, the association, comprising serving and retired ambassadors, said the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Usra Harahap, should return to Jakarta “until satisfactory explanation and necessary restitutive steps are taken by Indonesian authorities to assuage frayed nerves.”

This comes after a video trended online on Tuesday, showing some Immigration officials assaulting Mr Mohammed Buba, a Nigerian diplomat in Jakarta.

Following the ugly incident, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, announced Ogar’s recall to give a detailed account of the assault, and also threatened to review its relationship with Indonesia if it fails to bring the immigration officials to book.

In a statement on Wednesday, the AFRPN described the incident as undiplomatic and uncivilized, noting that it endorses the declaration of the Indonesian embassy staff in Nigeria persona non grata, which would lead to their recall to Jakarta.

In the statement titled, ‘Undiplomatic and uncivilized treatment of a Nigerian diplomat in Indonesia,’ AFRPN President, Amb Gani Lawal called for the sacking of the immigration officials.

Lawal in his statement said the assault on Buba was a violation of Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961.

READ ALSO: Nigeria recalls ambassador to Indonesia over assault on diplomat

He said, “The association recommends the immediate disengagement of all the Indonesian immigration officers involved in such uncivilized manner to desecrate the age-long tradition of inviolability of diplomatic agent and their family and property as provided by Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations ( 1961), which states that; “Diplomats must not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. They are immune from civil or criminal prosecution.

“The AFRPN commends the immediate step taken by our Ministry of Foreign Affairs in summoning the Indonesian ambassador before receiving the full report from its embassy as a first step in the series of reactions reserved for such heinous diplomatic blunder.

“Equally commendable is the subsequent step taken by MFA after receiving the mission’s report by inviting home the Nigerian ambassador for consultation while expecting the Indonesian ambassador to toe the diplomatic avenue by equally returning to Jakarta until satisfactory explanation and necessary restitutive steps are taken by Indonesian authorities to assuage frayed nerves.”

Furthermore, the AFRPN said it was awaiting a robust reaction “to serve as a deterrent to a future occurrence of such treatment to any of our diplomats and embassy home-based staffs and indeed any Nigerian citizen from anywhere across the globe,” following Onyeama’s threat to review the state of Nigeria’s bilateral relations with Indonesia.

Also, the AFRPN stated that the family of the concerned diplomat must be adequately compensated materially and health-wise for the traumatic treatment meted to them, while public apology satisfactory to the Nigerian people and government must be tendered and assurance against reoccurrence must be given.

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