On Monday, the Nigerian government summoned Nigeria’s Ghanaian High Commissioner, Iva Denoo, over the demolition of a part of the Nigerian embassy in Accra, Ghana.
In a Twitter post, Nigeria’s foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said he had asked the Ghanaian official to give a “urgent explanation” about the recent attacks on Nigeria ‘s diplomatic residence and the Accra staff.
“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,” Mr Onyeama tweeted.
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. @NigeriaGov pic.twitter.com/ovaWMQufUI
— Geoffrey Onyeama (@GeoffreyOnyeama) June 22, 2020
Armed men allegedly stormed the residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner on Friday night, which hosts a block of uncompleted apartments built for diplomats to visit and forcefully turned away workers who were present at the scene.
The building was subsequently demolished by the men who said they had the support of the Ghanaian National Security while the police, who were also present at the site, reportedly watched on without intercession.
Mr Onyeama vowed to investigate the demolition after the attacks by engaging the Ghanaian Government to “demand urgent action to find the perpetrators and provide adequate protection for Nigerians and their property in Ghana.”
In recent months, relations between Ghana and Nigeria have become especially tense in the area of trade following the Nigerian government’s closure of its borders
A diplomatic spat between the two countries could escalate, if not treated well.
The Ghanaian Foreign Ministry had previously denounced the attack which identified the development as “a breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR, 19610).”
Meanwhile, a Ghanaian monarch, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, claimed the parcel of land where the residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner was situated, belonged to the Osu Stool, a council of local chiefs and was not owned by the state.
Mr Dowuona said that a certain Nigerian business overtook the land “with the political backing of the Nigerian embassy” without paying for ownership to the OSU Stool that “has the mandate to grant lease be it expired or otherwise.”
Before demolition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana appealed in January to the Nigerian Government for failure to renew the property affected after the expiry of its lease, “the property reverted to the state in compliance with Article 258 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution,” Ghanaian local media reported.
But Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained in a statement that property under reference was in use by the Federal Ministry of Finance, since 1957, on leasehold and was later bequeathed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
