Over the weekend, social media users in and out of Ghana were outraged over the news of the demolition of the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana, which according to the reports, happened on the night of Friday, June 19th. While some claimed that the High Commission itself had been demolished by armed men others said it was a building belonging to the Commission which had been pulled down
- The Building which was demolished
Dubawa contacted the Nigerian High Commission which clarified that the demolished property was not the chancery but a building in the Commissioner’s Diplomatic Residence.
“It’s actually not the chancery. It’s actually one of our quarters, a building around the diplomatic residence…It is not the Embassy itself”, a staff of the Nigerian High Commission confirmed.
Although both properties are located at Ridge in Accra, the Embassy is located behind the High Commissioner’s residence.
2. Official Reactions from Nigeria
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, through his official Twitter account, condemned the attack.
“We strongly condemn two outrageous criminal attacks in Accra, #Ghana, on a residential building in our diplomatic premises by unknown persons in which a bulldozer was used to demolish the building,” Mr Onyeama tweeted. “We are engaging the Ghanaian Government and demand urgent action to find the perpetrators and provide adequate protection for Nigerians and their property in Ghana…”
3. Ghana apologises and says demolition “not a government-sanctioned activity”
According to a tweet from the Nigerian Presidency, President Akufo-Addo has, in a telephone call to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, apologised to the Nigerian government and indicated that the incident is under investigation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana, had, a few hours after the news broke, apologised and denounced the attack which it says violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which states:
“1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.
2. The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.
3. The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.”
According to a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, investigations are currently underway to bring out the facts of the matter and bring the culprits to book. The Ministry further assured the international community of Ghana’s commitment to ensuring the safety of members of the Diplomatic corps.
“The Ministry wishes to reassure the Diplomatic Community in Ghana and the Nigerian High Commission in particular, that Ghana remains a law-abiding country that upholds the principle of the rule of law, where due process is followed at all times. The government will, therefore, not relent in its primary obligation to guarantee the safety of Members of the Diplomatic Corp in Ghana” the Ministry said.
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, on a visit to the Commission on Monday, also said the incident was “not a government-sanctioned activity”.
4. Controversies around ownership of the land
The Paramount Chief of the Osu Traditional Area and the President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, has stated through a letter to Ghanaian Media houses, that the land on which the building was being put up on belongs to them, and therefore was being trespassed upon.
“The said parcel of land and the entire Osu Mantse layout is not State Land but is a part of Osu Paramount Stool land and as such it is only the Stool that has the mandate to grant lease be it expired or otherwise,” the statement reads.
“The said parcel of land is separate from that which is currently being occupied by the Nigerian High Commission,” it added.
The statement further claims the structure was being put up by a Nigerian businessman with the help of the Nigerian High Commission for use as “an events center for commercial purposes and is not a block of flats as has been purported in the reportage.”
Ms Botchway, however, indicated that even if ownership of the land is in dispute, it is expected that “the persons go to court because that is the normal way of dealing with such matters in this country.”
The details that remain unclear presently is whether or not the portion of the High Commissioners Compound on which this structure was being erected constitutes the Commission’s land or the land owned by the Osu Stool.
The latter could constitute a breach of Article 41(3) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which states that,
“The premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible with the functions of the mission as laid down in the present Convention or by other rules of general international law or by any special agreements in force between the sending and the receiving State.”
Same goes for Article 12 of the convention which also states that,
“The sending State may not, without the prior express consent of the receiving State, establish offices forming part of the mission in localities other than those in which the mission itself is established.”
