Members of the House of Representatives has called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama to initiate a retaliatory posture in the Nigeria Foreign Policy against the backdrop of the recent demolition of Nigeria High Commission residential quarters in Accra Ghana by its nationals.
Speaker of the House, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila told the Minister that an apology tendered by the Ghanaian government and its officials without concrete action taken to redress the action is not acceptable.
He said that “rather than being diplomatic on the issue of demolition of our national assets in Ghana or other countries, the nation should be confrontational adding that reciprocity is a legitimate instrument in foreign relations.”
Similarly, the Chairman House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Buba Yakub and other Lawmakers also tasked officials of the Foreign Ministry to ensure that Nigerian government takes actions to redress this action.
The lawmakers said that the demolition of the nation’s property in Ghana by the country’s nationals should not be taken lightly in the light of the fact that it was done by non-state actors.
Call for Retaliation
While calling for retaliation of the act by the Nigerian government, Mr. Yakubu noted that “the act is a breach of diplomatic protocols and expressed regrets that the property which depicts the nation’s sovereignty was demolished for more than two hours and no arrest was made by the Ghanaian authorities.”
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and lawmaker. Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim from Yobe State and other lawmakers notably, Sada Soli-Jibia from Kastsina State, Miriam Onuoha from Imo State and Cornelius Nnaji from Enugu State also asked that the Nigerian government retaliates the action if the Ghanaian government fails to act appropriately.
However, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama assured the Lawmakers that the Nigerian government would not hesitate to employ the use of force by the deployment of fighter jets and security personnel to the country if it becomes necessary.
He said that the government was still considering what steps are necessary to take in the present situation, that the attack on one or two foreign missions out of over one hundred of such properties owned by the Nigerian government across the world is not likely going to result into conflict in relations for both nations.
The Minister, however, noted that “Ghanaian authorities have arrested some of the perpetrators of the provocative demolition exercise even as he also commended Nigerian diplomats in other countries that are law-abiding citizen of Nigeria.”
