Diplomat Assault: Indonesia Tenders Formal Apology To Nigeria

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry formally apologized to Nigeria on Thursday for the manhandling of a Nigerian diplomat by its immigration officials.

It also announced it had launched a formal investigation of the incident.

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.

The video shows three Indonesian immigration officials pinning the diplomat, identified as Ibrahim, into the back seat of a moving vehicle.

One immigration official held the diplomat’s arm and another pushed on his head as the man screams “I can’t breathe” and “my neck, my neck.”

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.”