Politics of Monday, 22 June 2020

Source: 3news.com

Disgusted Minority demands public inquiry into demolition of Nigeria High Commission property

Ranking Member of Parliament Ranking Member of Parliament

The Minority in Parliament has condemned the “shocking” demolition of property belonging to the Nigerian High Commission in Accra.

The incident happened in the late hours of Friday, June 20 by unidentified men, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

Security has since been beefed up around the facility with investigations launched into the incident “to unravel the facts of the matter and bring the perpetrators to book”.

But in a statement issued on Sunday, June 21 by the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minority said the caucus is embarrassed at the incident.

“The Government of Ghana must not underestimate the implications of this reckless act of unprovoked aggression not only for Ghana-Nigeria relations but also the negative reverberations in larger diplomatic quarters,” the statement said.

It expressed disgust at the statement issued by the Ministry, saying the latter lied since the incident happened “under the full protection of state security”.

“We hope the Foreign Ministry is not laying the foundation for a grand cover-up. We hereby serve notice that the Minority shall resist any such attempt.”

It demanded an “an independent public enquiry to thoroughly unearth the facts with the view of bringing the perpetrators to justice”.

It stressed: “Nothing short of this will suffice.”

The Minority expressed “solidarity and sympathies” with the Nigerian community, urging “calm particularly amongst the citizenry of both nations as we step up efforts in demanding justice”.

“There must be no reprisal action which would only exacerbate the already volatile situation.”