{"id":9044,"date":"2011-12-08T18:43:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-08T18:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/nigeria-protests-siege-to-its-chancery-by-south-african-police\/"},"modified":"2011-12-08T18:43:44","modified_gmt":"2011-12-08T18:43:44","slug":"nigeria-protests-siege-to-its-chancery-by-south-african-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/nigeria-protests-siege-to-its-chancery-by-south-african-police\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria protests siege to its chancery by South African Police"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Abuja \u2013 Nigeria has protested the siege to its chancery building in Johannesburg by 13 armed officers of the South African\u00a0 Police Service, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The officers lay siege to the chancery building for two-and-a-half hours on Nov. 29 to protest a perceived delay in the issuance of visas to 66 South Africans planning to attend a church programme in Makurdi between Dec. 3 and Dec. 4.<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s Consul-General in South Africa, Mr. Bashar Erubu, consequently wrote letters to the Head of the South African Diplomatic Police and the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt.-Gen. Mzwandile, to protest the action.<\/p>\n

He stated in the letters that \u201cthis blatant and unacceptable action by the officers is a gross violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention on consular relation pertaining to inviolability of the mission\u2019s premises, officers and archives in a host country.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Erubu also demanded unreserved apology from the South African Police over the incident.<\/p>\n

Nigeria and South Africa are signatories to the Vienna Convention.<\/p>\n

Trouble began to brew when Nigerian consular officers insisted on sighting genuine documents to authenticate the visa applications.<\/p>\n

The applications were supported by the Twelve Apostles\u2019 Church in Christ, with administrative offices in Makurdi and London.<\/p>\n

It issued a covering letter signed by Dr. Olumuyiwa Akanbi, Apostle in Charge of Nigerian Congregation, who also is a senior lecturer at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, where he teaches at the Forestry Department.<\/p>\n

Documents obtained showed that the Twelve Apostles Church in Christ was operating under the umbrella of a limited liability company, Bona Divine Nigeria Ltd., a status categorised under business enterprise by the Corporate Affairs Commission.<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s consular office, which had earlier issued the visas in anticipation that requested documents and clarifications would be made by the applicants cancelled the visas and returned the passports to their owners.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the development, Dr. Akanbi blamed the South African branch of the Twelve Apostles Church in Christ for the siege.<\/p>\n

He said on Thursday in Makurdi that the church \u201cought to have reported the issues they had against the consulate to Interpol instead of going to the conventional police\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

Akanbi said \u201cas much as I am against creating barriers for the spread of the gospel, I think it was an error on the part of the church to go to the police.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

He, however, took a swipe at the Nigerian consular office in South Africa for cancelling the visas after duly stamping the passports.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the information I received from our church in South Africa, the passports were all stamped and signed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consulate even went ahead to ask the church to book for flights and that is why more than N3 million was spent on bookings alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could they cancel the visas on flimsy grounds that pastors should prove their membership of the church since one of their documents showed a certificate of a limited liability company.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Akanbi further explained that the 66 ministers of the gospel were people of integrity \u201cwho had their passports signed by the same consulate for more than five times.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are people of integrity who should be treated for who they are. They are pastors and not ordinary people and in any case, when you have your passport stamped five times by a particular embassy, you deserve the respect of that country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Nigerian pastors also travel to South Africa but are never treated in this manner,\u2019\u2019 he stressed.<\/p>\n

He denied that visa applications had inadequate information, arguing that \u201ceverything the consulate wanted was contained in the information sent to them over the applications.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

He admitted that the certificate of incorporation tendered by the church as part of the required documentation bore the name of Boma Divine Nigeria Ltd., which was the name of his personal company.<\/p>\n

He said the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) issued a covering note which showed that the church was properly inaugurated in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are worried over the sudden attitude of the Nigerian consulate in refusing to issue visas to same people who are always coming to the country for the purpose of thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, those who came were 34 and it was the same documentation that was provided, yet, they were all cleared so why the change,\u2019\u2019 Akanbi queried. (NAN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Link:
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