There was palpable panic across the country on Friday as more diplomatic missions shut their consulates in Lagos, in response to Thursday’s security scare issued by the United States Embassy.
The U.S Consulate-General shut its operations on Thursday afternoon, citing security reasons, and as if on cue, other consulates on the same Walter Carrington Crescent as the American mission suspended activities.
They include the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, India, Finland, Russia, Sweden and Lebanon.
BBC quoted a spokeswoman for the U.S European Command, at a military training exercise for West African forces in Senegal, Major Holly Silkman, as saying that the embassy received a credible terrorist threat, which according to sources, forced the embassy in Abuja to close at 2.30p.m on Thursday while the consulate-general followed suit a few minutes later.
Silkman said, “There was some kind of terrorist threat made. It was a terrorist threat that was called in. They knew about it yesterday (Thursday) and decided to close the embassy.”
No further details were available.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, Mrs. Claudia Anyaso, told CNN that the security matter was “of mutual concern to the United States government and Nigerian government” and that “the issue is being addressed with the help and close collaboration of the Nigerian police.”
Also, a spokesman at the U.S embassy in Abuja, said, “The embassy is reacting to a security incident and we thought it prudent to close.”
Reuters quoted a diplomatic source as saying officials had received information from foreign Islamic militant channels that indicated foreign militants posted a specific threat to the Lagos consulate.
The Foreign Office in London said the UK had shut its mission in Lagos as a precaution following the closure of the US consulate, which is just 100 metres away.
Explaining the decision to suspend operations, the British High Commission’s Press and Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Graeme Bannatyne, told our correspondent on telephone, “It was because the Americans shut their consulate-general on Thursday afternoon that we have decided to shut down our deputy high commission. The Americans have an unspecified security concern. They have shut their consulate-general and we have shut our deputy high commission.”
He assured that the High Commission would reschedule all cancelled appointments when it reopens, possibly on Monday.
A heavy security presence was noticed in the area when our correspondent visited on Friday.
The ever busy business district was a shadow of its former self as visa applicants, embassy officials and other business operators in the area had been turned back earlier in the day. Vehicular movement was also restricted while a combined team of armed policemen, police anti-bomb squad and some foreign security officials collaborated in combing the area and conducting searches on vehicles and individuals.
Some visa applicants who had appointments at the embassies were seen in small groups discussing the sudden turn of events at the main entrance to the street.
Also, the busy NAPEX Complex had been evacuated as were the various car parks on the street.
Our correspondent was ordered down from his vehicle by security operatives and searched thoroughly after some electronic gadgets (a camera and tape recorder) were discovered in his car.
Marine police personnel also patrolled the Lagos Lagoon fronting the consulate-general and some of the other missions.
One small home-grown Islamic sect known as the “Talibans” staged a series of attacks on government offices and police stations in the remote northeast at the end of 2003, calling for the imposition of an Islamic state, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, told newsmen in Lagos that there was no cause for alarm, as the country was safe.
Fani-Kayode faulted the decision of the affected missions, saying that the Federal Government had, however, rejected any attempt to label the country as breeding ground for terrorism.
He said, “ Our position is that Nigeria is not only safe, it is not only stable but that the country will not disintegrate.”
He stated that government had always taken necessary precautions through collaboration with the relevant security agencies, adding that Abuja was adequately prepared to protect everyone residing in the country, regardless of the genuineness of the alleged threat.
Speaking further, the presidential spokesman said it was wrong for anyone to use the closure to justify the purported security report that led to the closure, arguing also that it was not right to say that the closure of the embassies was an indication that the president’s foreign trips had yielded nothing.
However, some missions said they were not impressed by the reasons for the closure and would not suspend operations.
Said the Information Officer of the Belgian Embassy in Abuja, Mr. Everest Monn, “No, we are not closing. There is no basis for that as far as we are concerned for now. There has been no threat to any of our embassies both in Abuja and Lagos.”
In the same vein, an official of the Korean Embassy stated, “No way! We have not gotten to that level. We are not considering that for now and the future.”
It was the same scenario at the Irish Embassy where a diplomat said, “There is no such thing there. We have no plan to do that now.”
Commenting on the development, Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ighodalo (SP), said, “There is no security threat to any person or property in Nigeria. The security situation is okay. I want to assure our domiciled foreigners that the security situation is okay. There is no basis for that accusation. The security situation in the country is perfect. May be they have any other motive for doing what they did, but definitely not because of any security lapse.”
Similarly, a source at the State Security Service told our correspondent on telephone, “The situation cited by the American government was not the issue. Nigeria is a peaceful country. There has been no problem in the country for long to warrant such a nasty and impatiently taken decision. It is disheartening that the American government is doing that to Nigeria when the country is in serious contention for a seat at the UN Security Council.”
Director of Defence Information, Brig-Gen. Ganiyu Adewale said he would not “comment on the situation now until next week. I will have to make necessary consultations.”
It was the same thing with former foreign affairs minister, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, who said the matter was too sensitive for him to discuss.
Also speaking, a frontline security expert, who is also the president of the American Society for Industrial Security, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, said on Friday that the development was “a pressure gambit to force the Nigerian authorities to act to protect foreigners in the country.”
Ekhomu, who spoke to our correspondent on telephone, said the Federal Government would have to commit massive intelligence and law enforcement and military resources to effectively contain any security threat.
“The European countries’ action is dangerous because it is a concerted action. They have closed their offices in Lagos where business is done. There is little activity in Abuja. If they close the offices in Lagos, the next thing is that their home governments will recall them and the oil companies will move out. I will see if we will use calabash to collect our oil.”
Ekhomu said the security profile of the country was low but added that it was troubling that the diplomatic community was taking the matter personal.
He said, “It is unprecedented. It is only when you have a diplomatic row that you start closing down embassies. But when they do it for security reasons, then, we have a cause to worry.”
Likewise, Chief Gani Fawehinmi said it was “a terrible signal that all is not well with this country; it shows clearly that the country is not stable economically, socially and politically. That the signal is coming from outside is a clear evidence of lack of confidence in his regime. This regime is the worst in the history of this country. That embassies are shutting down in the country shows that all his foreign trips since he assumed office in 1999 amount to sheer waste, most painfully, of the nation’s financial resources.”
The Punch, June 18, 2005
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