After a video in which a Nigerian Foreign Service Officer in Indonesia was being maltreated went viral with comments from Nigerians condemning the inhumane acts by the Indonesian, Rt.Hon. ( Dr.) Yusuf Buba Yakub, the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs (House of Representatives) out rightly come out to lend his voice on the issue bordering on national relevance.
In a press release tagged – HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS CONDEMNS ILL-TREATMENT METED ON A NIGERIAN FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER IN INDONESIA, CALLS FOR INVESTIGATIONS AND APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS AGAINST OFFENDERS, the senior legislator condemned the act in its strongest terms.
The statement partly reads: ‘’The Committee , equally,condemns in no light terms every alleged interrogation or arrest purportedly arising from the manner of action or response to questions by the Nigerian Foreign Service Officer to the interrogations of the Indonesian Immigration authorities. The Committee also stressed that any such arrest or questioning remains nothing but a gross abuse of the letters and spirit of Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations ( 1961),which states,inter alia,that,
“Diplomats must not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. They are immune from civil or criminal prosecution””
Dr. Yakub emphasized: ” Again,for us as a responsible Parliament, one that is responsive to the yearnings and security of those that we represent,this scene of humiliation from Indonesia is totally unacceptable, reprehensive,barbaric, inhumane, wicked and offensive to the intendment of Article 37 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,which, unequivocally,states thus:’ Diplomatic privileges and immunities guarantee that diplomatic agents( such as Nigeria’s Mr. Ibrahim in Indonesia) or even their immediate family: May not be arrested or detained * May not have their residences entered and searched May not be subpoenaed as witnesses * May not be prosecuted ‘,but,alas,in this instant case the entirety of this Article has suffered a gross breach. All men and women of goodwill must stand up to condemn it for alll it is and for what it portends for the future of Diplomacy across the globe”.
