Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Federal Government, has expressed disgust over the attack of the Embassy of Nigeria in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, while reacting to the attack on the mission which was carried out by Nigerians, said the development was “absolutely deplorable and disgraceful.”
Nigerian protesters, Thursday, stormed the Embassy of Nigeria in Jakarta over allegation of harassment by officials of the Indonesian Immigration, including discrimination in the country.
Video footage of the attack had surfaced on the social media where some young men, bearing what could be referred to as cudgels, were seen destroying windows and other parts of the embassy building.
The Nigerians who stormed the mission in the form of protesters, were also seen in the video destroying the flag of Nigeria which was flown at the mission, with some calling for the burning of the flag.
A male voice in the video was heard saying: “The Nigerians cannot do anything. They cannot help us in this country.”
While destroying the flag, the attackers claimed that they had no Embassy in Indonesia, shouting “no more Nigeria as they leave the premises.”
But Onyeama while reacting to the attack on his Twitter handle, @GeoffreyOnyeama, said every effort would be made to identify the attackers and see that they were severely punished.
“Absolutely deplorable and disgraceful criminal behaviour by Nigerian hooligans who without justification attacked the Nigerian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia today.
“Every effort will be made to identify them and see they are severely punished. Totally unacceptable behaviour,” Onyeama said.
Recall that the activities of some Nigerians in Indonesia had been a source of concern in recent time to the Nigerian Government, particularly in the area of drug trafficking which had led to the execution of some Nigerians in Indonesia.
As at November 3, 2019, a total number of 407 Nigerians were serving various jail terms in the Indonesian prisons, according to the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, Amb. Hakeem Balogun.
Balogun had also disclosed that more than 400 Nigerian immigration law violators were in Indonesia immigration detention centres, even as he disclosed that 14 Nigerians were on death row out of the 136 sentenced as a result of drug-related cases.
He went further to list other crimes committed by Nigerians in the Southeast Asian country and figures to include: “419/Yahoo Yahoo: 53; Immigration offences: 213; Rape: 5,” bringing the total number to 407.