The Federal Government of Nigeria has reacted to a viral footage of a Nigerian man calling out Nigerian Embassy officials in Berne, Switzerland.
In the viral video filmed just outside the embassy, the man is heard expressing frustrations at being neglected by the embassy officials.
He said his calls to the embassy always go unanswered and so do emails.
He then decided to drive for more than two hours to the office only to find that, though staff were in the building, the embassy was closed to visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He questioned why they should be receiving salary when they don’t do the job expected of them.
He said: “Nigerian government bikonu (please), I use God beg you people, it’s better we close this embassy here because this nonsense embassy has no simple feeling about the Nigerians in Switzerland.
“You will book an appointment in embassy, call them, call them, register for the passport, do everything; calling embassy from day one, nobody will pick your call.
“Write email to embassy, embassy will never, never, reply your email, and there is people receiving salary.”
In response to the video, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Agbaeze Francis Chinedu – the Nigerian man living in Switzerland – for filming what it describes as a defamatory video.
A statement signed by Ferdinand Nwonye, spokesperson for the ministry, said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “there has been varying levels of lockdown measures implemented by several countries and our Missions are obligated to respect and comply with the directives of their host countries.”
Nwonye further explained that in compliance with the new developments in Switzerland, as regards the strict restrictions and limit on the number of people in workplaces, the Immigration Officers had informed that all cancelled appointments will be re-booked when the lockdown is lifted.
The statement continues: “In line with the mandatory COVID-19 policy measures and directives (third-tier lockdown) announced by the Swiss Government on 14th January, 2021, the Immigration Officers of the Embassy were obliged to cancel all earlier booked appointments and all applicants were informed accordingly.”
Nwonye added that, “Information regarding discontinuation of consular services were sent via public notices to the President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) Swiss chapter, relevant media in Switzerland and also uploaded on the official website of the Mission.”
He insisted that Chinedu had no prior booking with the Embassy and neither did any records show or prove that he contacted the Immigration officers of the Embassy.
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