The Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada has suspended its activities. This followed what was described as an attack on its workers by some enraged Nigerians.
In a statement on its website, the commission said the special intervention arrangement for emergency cases “on discretionary basis” was also affected.
The commission said it had devised a system in which citizens with emergency cases were attended to strictly by appointment that allowed a limited number of people into the chancery at a time — in compliance with the laid-down rules of physical distancing.
However, it added some citizens have chosen to violate the protocol by disrupting work at the chancery. It added that the situation became tense on August 14, when a group showed up at the High Commission and refused to allow embassy staff members to attend to those who had appointments.
It alleged that a female staff was held hostage and subjected to physical abuse.
According to the High Commission, “This kind of conduct is considered unnecessarily hostile and totally unacceptable and no embassy would tolerate conduct that puts the lives of its staff members at risk.
“We are closing down the embassy and we shall be considering ways to make our premises more secure and less susceptible to unruly behaviour and violent mob action.
“For individuals trying to renew work and study permits, the commission asked them to apply for renewals online. At the appropriate time, applicants would be asked to submit appropriate documentation.
“If you do not have a valid passport when this happens you may ask for a 90-day grace period which would be granted. Nigerian citizens whose study or work permits have expired since March 2020 and who do not have a valid passport have a grace period that lasts until December 31st 2020. By this time, we expect to have resolved some of the challenging issues that COVID-19 has created.”
In the meantime, some Nigerians in the country have taken to the social media to fault the action saying they have been allowed to waste their money travelling from far when they had confirmed appointments.
