The Indonesian government has formally apologised to the Federal Government of Nigeria over the manhandling of a Nigerian diplomat in the South-East Asia country.
Nigeria earlier this week recalled its ambassador to Indonesia and summoned Indonesia’s ambassador in Abuja for talks after a leaked video of Saturday’s incident went viral on social media and prompted outrage.
In the video shows three Indonesian immigration officials pinning the diplomat, Mohammed Buba, into the back seat of a moving vehicle. One immigration official holds the diplomat’s arm and another pushes on his head as the man screams “I can’t breathe” and “my neck, my neck.”
Apologising on behalf of his country, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah told reporters that there had been multiple meetings with Nigerian officials since the incident, including discussions with the ambassador in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets the incident on August 7th,” Faizasyah said. “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.”
He said that the incident had been investigated by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, which oversees immigration authorities, but did not give any details of the results and did not take any questions.
Nigeria on Tuesday issued a statement expressing “outrage” over the incident, saying the government “condemns in the strongest terms what is, in effect, an egregious act of international delinquency.”
The Nigerian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Indonesian ambassador to “protest strongly,” and had recalled its ambassador to Indonesia for consultations, “including a review of bilateral relations.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyeama, demanded an unreserved apology from the Indonesian government and also threatened that Nigeria would review its relationship with the country. The Federal government also announced the recall of the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia.
