Indonesia has formally apologised over the manhandling of a Nigerian diplomat in the South-East Asia country.
A viral video of Mr Mohammed Buba, an accredited Nigerian diplomat, being rough-handled by Indonesian immigration officials, surfaced online earlier, prompting Nigeria to threaten to review its relationship with the country.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets the incident on August 7th,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
“This is an isolated incident, and is in no way related to the commitment of the Indonesian government in carrying out its obligations as host country or in accordance with the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.”
Faizasyah added that Indonesia has launched a formal investigation into the incident.
‘Unfortunate incident’
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had condemned the incident, which took place on Saturday.
The viral video of the event shows at least three men in a vehicle assaulting Mr Buba, ignoring his screams of pain.
While two of the men held his hands and pinned him down in the backseat, another freely assaulted his unprotected head as he cried out in pain.
“The unfortunate incident is against international law and the Vienna Conventions governing Diplomatic and Consular Relations between states,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
