By Williams Anuku, Abuja
Nigerians in diaspora have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and halt the growing xenophobic tendencies in some Asia countries, particularly Indonesia.
Arising from an Emergency meeting ,the group under the auspices of Stakeholders of Nigerians in Asia(SNA) in a communique titled “The Continued Harassment, Intimidation and Unlawful Arrest of Nigerians in Asian Countries and The Need For President Muhammadu Buhari’s Urgent Intervention” expressed dismay over recent reported manhandling of a Nigerian diplomat in Indonesia.
The communique which was signed by the its coordinator, Comrade Kingsley Nwankwo, charged the Nigerian Government to as a matter of urgency set up a high powered delegation to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the continued harassment of Nigerians in the continent .
The social media at the weekend was awash with the gory scenes of a senior Nigerian Diplomat in Jakarta, Indonesia, Mr Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, who was being manhandled by some Indonesian security operatives.
Nwankwo lamented that many Nigerians are currently languishing unjustly in many prisons across Asia.
The latest barbaric and inhuman treatment of a Nigerian Diplomat, Mr. Abdul Rahman Ibrahim on Aug. 7, 2021 by some staff of Immigration Department in Indonesia is not only one of such unpleasant and ugly treatments being faced by some Nigerians across the Asia but it has also become a routine practice across the Continent.
” We want President Buhari to set up a high powered delegation to look into the rationale behind the continued maltreatment, inhuman and xenophobic attacks on Nigerians across the Asia Continent.
“It is on this note that, we want the Nigerian government especially, the Director General Diaspora Organisation, Permanent Secretary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and President Muhammudu Buhari to write the Indonesian Government on the need to sanction the Officers who were involved in the maltreatment of Nigerian Diplomat in the Country in order to protect Nigerians in the Asian Countries” Nwankwo admonished.
He said “from our investigations, Ibrahim had gone out on shopping for his family when four officers who had laid seige on his apartment arrested him and demanded for his travelling papers which he told them he is not using a visa as a diplomat and showed them his Diplomatic Identity Card. But when the officers were not satisfied with the card, he decided to follow them to their office for more clarification in order to avoid creating unnecessary scene in his area.
According to the report, on their way, the officers ordered for a car with tinted glasses and he enquired from them politely that the car was not an official one but despite that, he agreed to follow them in the car, thinking they were going to the Indonesian Immigration Head Office in Kuningan, Jakarta.
“But to his surprise, they did not stop on getting to the office and it was then that, Mr. Ibrahim had left with no other option than to try to call the attentions of the people on the street for help since it was no longer clear to him where he was being taken to.
“The attempt for him to call the attentions of the people for help infuriated the officers to descend on him by hitting him mercilessly and put handcuff into his hands unjustly.
The development which resulted for him to sustain a lot of injuries in the neck, hands and chest.
“After the whole unfortunate and ugly drama, the officers later realised that, Mr. Abdul Rahman Ibrahim is a senior Counsellor/Diplomat with Nigerian Embassy in Indonesia as he had claimed.” the statement added.
