The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus wants Nigeria to take stringent measures against Indonesia over the ill-treatment of a Nigerian diplomat by Immigration officials in the Asian country.
Secondus said this in a statement signed by his Media Adviser Ike Abonyi, in Abuja, on Thursday.
In the statement titled “Secondus seeks stiffer penalty on Indonesia…Bemoans the debasing of Nigerians abroad,” the Chairman said: “Every reasonable step should be taken including recalling the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia and/or the expulsion of their ambassador here if adequate remorse and commensurate punishment is not meted out to those Indonesian officials.”
The statement read in part, “Secondus, who expressed deep discontent on the matter, charged Nigerian government to apply no constraints in responding to the unprovoked and unwarranted manhandling of the Nigerian diplomat. No Nigerian should receive such dehumanizing treatment, more so to a diplomat who enjoys some privileges while on duty to any country.”
The New Diplomat had earlier reported that Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry formally apologized Thursday for the manhandling of a Nigerian diplomat by its immigration officials.
It also announced it had launched a formal investigation into the incident.
Nigeria earlier in the week recalled its ambassador to Indonesia and summoned Indonesia’s ambassador in Abuja for talks after a leaked video of Saturday’s incident went viral on social media and prompted outrage.
The video shows three Indonesian immigration officials pinning the diplomat, identified as Ibrahim, into the back seat of a moving vehicle.
Two immigration official held the diplomat’s arms, and another pinned his head to a seat as the man screamed, “I can’t breathe” and “my neck, my neck.”
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah told reporters that there had been multiple meetings with Nigerian officials since the incident, including discussions with the ambassador in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets the incident on August 7th,” Faizasyah said.
“This is an isolated incident, and it is in no way related to the commitment of the Indonesian government in carrying out its obligations as host country or under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.”
He said that the incident had been investigated by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, which oversees immigration authorities, but did not give any details of the results and did not take any questions.
Nigeria on Tuesday issued a statement expressing “outrage” over the incident, saying the government “condemns in the strongest terms what is, in effect, an egregious act of international delinquency.”
The Nigerian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Indonesian ambassador to “protest strongly,” and had recalled its ambassador to Indonesia for consultations, “including a review of bilateral relations.”
It was not clear whether Ambassador Usman Ogah ever left Indonesia, however, as the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said he was present in person for the talks in Jakarta on Wednesday.
