Edozie Udeojo,Abuja
The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has called President Muhammadu Buhari, to express his regrets and apologised for the demolition of a building in the premises of the Nigerian High Commission in Accra, Ghana.
The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ferdinand Nwonye, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.
Nwonye said Akufo-Addo informed President Buhari that he had directed a full investigation of the unfortunate incident.
He stated: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform that the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo called President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR today, June 23, on the phone, to express his sincere regrets and apology for the demolition of a building on the premises of the Nigerian High Commission in Accra, Ghana.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this note wish to call on Nigerians home and abroad to remain calm despite the highly provocative attack on the High Commission of Nigeria in Accra, Ghana and to reassure Nigerians that the Federal Government is engaging the Ghanaian Authorities at the highest level to seek redress.”
Nwonye said that some suspects had been arrested and would be arraigned in court.
It will be recalled that a businessman who claimed ownership of the land housing the Nigerian mission reportedly moved with security personnel to demolish some portion of the staff quarters.
Although the demolition took place on Friday, the man was said to have shown up the previous week with some pieces of evidence to support his claim and began to knock down the fence surrounding the building.
A source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Nigeria Daily that the action of the man was not opposed, adding that the Nigerian High Commission petitioned the Ghanaian Government about it, but there was no response.
Following the incident, many Nigerians including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila have condemned the action.