Less than 16 months after he reported for duty, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire, Amb. Ibrahim Isah, has died, Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said.
Sources from the Nigerian Embassy at Deux Plateau, Abidjan, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Isah, aged 60, died at 7p.m. on Tuesday.
The sources said he slumped and died at the Polyclinique Internationale Sainte Anne-Marie (PISAM) where he had gone to see his doctors.
The Interim Chairman of Nigerian Community in Cote d’Ivoire, Mr Musudi Akanfe, told NAN that the entire embassy had been thrown into mourning over the death.
“We are already in a mourning mood, we received this sad news with rude shock, we pray God to console the family and the Nigerian community,’’ he said.
Speaking to NAN by telephone, the former President, Nigerian Youths in Cote d’Ivoire, Mr Bright Moses, described the death as `shocking and painful’.
“ He was a very lively and proactive diplomat, he listened to the plight of the Nigerian people in this country, this is very shocking,’’ he said.
Isah, born in 1959 in Niger, held a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1983 and was posted to Cote D’Ivoire in September 2017.
He served in different capacities in the ministry before his death.
Meanwhile, the minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, has expressed shock over Isah’s death.
Onyeama in a statement by the Ministry Spokesperson, George Edokpa, on Wednesday in Abuja described Isah’s death as a great loss to the ministry and the nation.
“The members of Staff of the Ministry received the sad news of his death with great shock,” he said.
“During his career, the late Ambassador served in different capacities both at Headquarters and in our Missions.
“He served at the Nigerian High Commission in Sierra Leone, Consulate-General in New York, Jeddah and Embassy in China.
“He was Chargé D’Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, until his appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary/Plenipotentiary to Cote d’Ivoire in 2017.
“He was happily married and blessed with children,” he said.
