Nigerian mission in Canada shut down over ‘attack’ on staff

The Nigeria High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, on Wednesday announced closure of its office in the country over ‘attack’ on one of its members of staff.

The Mission, in a public notice posted on its official website also disclosed that it has suspended special intervention arrangements whereby emergency cases were being handled on discretionary basis.

The statement said: “On a number of occasions, people seeking passport renewal came to the chancery without an appointment and acted in a most unruly manner, disturbing the peace and acting in an abusive manner, banging windows, etc.

“Matters came to a head on Friday, August 14, 2020 when a group showed up at the High Commission and refused to allow the Embassy staff members to attend to those who had appointments.

“They insisted that we had to attend to everybody who showed up.

“They went as far as holding a female staff member who went to address them hostage for over twenty minutes and subjected her to physical abuse.

“This kind of conduct is considered unnecessarily hostile and totally unacceptable and no Embassy would tolerate conduct that puts the lives of its staff members at risk.”