Uncertainty has emerged over an alleged assault involving the Director of Consular Services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Yunusa, after the Federal Ministry of Justice said the woman reported to have been assaulted is not a protocol officer attached to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and may have been impersonating an official.
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The controversy followed reports that Mrs. Prisca Tajudeen Abbey, described as a protocol officer attached to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, accused Yunusa, popularly known as “Danbauchi,” of physically assaulting her during an encounter connected with the processing of a Note Verbale for an unnamed senior government official travelling abroad.
Abbey was reported to have alleged that the incident occurred while she was attempting to explain the urgency of an application for a Note Verbale which, according to her account, had remained on the director’s table for weeks.
The allegation reportedly prompted an official petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which subsequently constituted a panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault.
However, the matter took a new turn after both Yunusa and the head of the Protocol Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice questioned Abbey’s identity and her alleged connection to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Yunusa, who oversees the Consular Services Directorate of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, categorically denied assaulting Abbey, insisting that he had never met or communicated with her.
“I don’t know this so-called Mrs Abbey, I have never met her and I think it is strange to assault someone you have never met. Something is not adding up,” he said.
The controversy has also brought attention to complaints reportedly surrounding the processing of Note Verbale applications by the Consular Services Directorate.
A Note Verbale is an official diplomatic communication commonly used by government institutions to support visa applications and other consular requests involving public officials travelling abroad on official assignments.
There have been allegations that protocol officers from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies have experienced delays in obtaining the documents, sometimes leaving officials unable to secure visas before scheduled international engagements.
It was also alleged that the fifth floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs complex, where the relevant office is located, is frequently visited by protocol officers seeking pending Note Verbale applications.
Yunusa rejected the allegations that he was responsible for unnecessary delays, maintaining that the Consular Services Directorate operates according to established procedures.
According to him, some MDAs submit requests too close to proposed travel dates, while others allegedly present questionable or forged documentation in attempts to obtain official diplomatic support for persons who may not be entitled to it.
He said requests for Note Verbale are subjected to security vetting, which could take approximately four days, explaining that this was why government institutions were advised to submit their applications well ahead of proposed travel dates.
“When requests come to me about any issue concerning Note Verbale, I would take them to security operatives for vetting which would take about four days. That is why the MDAs are advised to send their requests on time,” Yunusa said.
He alleged that the vetting process had uncovered several forged documents.
“During this process we have discovered that a whole lot of documents had been forged and we have taken necessary action on it,” he said.
Yunusa further alleged that some racketeers were working with protocol officers in certain government agencies to obtain official travel documentation for persons who were not genuinely connected with the institutions presented in their applications.
“There are racketeers that are conniving with protocol officers of most of the MDAs to push in people that have no business with the MDAs to travel out and we have discovered these multiple times and reported them to the security,” he alleged.
According to him, some individuals who obtained visas through official channels subsequently travelled abroad and failed to return, allegedly creating difficulties for Nigerian government institutions when dealing with foreign embassies and high commissions.
He said such abuses had caused some foreign missions to scrutinise or reject Note Verbale applications because unofficial persons had allegedly taken advantage of government channels to secure visas.
Yunusa maintained that applications supported by genuine documentation were treated with the necessary urgency and said he had not received any official query from his superiors concerning the allegations against his management of the directorate.
He also called for any investigation into the controversy to extend beyond his office to the MDAs submitting requests, particularly where fictitious names or questionable affiliations with senior public officials may have been used to obtain official consular support.
The most significant twist, however, came when the Protocol Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice was contacted to confirm Abbey’s identity and her reported role as a protocol officer attached to the CJN.
The head of the unit, Dr. Ngozi Okorie-Agwu, reportedly said the name “Mrs. Prisca Tajudeen Abbey” was unfamiliar to the department.
According to her, Abbey is not a member of the Ministry of Justice Protocol Unit.
She further stated that the Chief Justice of Nigeria does not have a protocol officer personally attached to her in the manner being reported.
Okorie-Agwu explained that official protocol matters involving the CJN and the Supreme Court follow an established administrative process, with the appropriate officers liaising with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whenever a Note Verbale is required.
She said such requests would ordinarily proceed through the Chief Registrar or other authorised officials before engagement with the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Justice Ministry official consequently raised the possibility that the woman at the centre of the alleged assault controversy may have falsely represented herself as being attached to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
She called for a comprehensive investigation into what she described as a possible case of impersonation, with anyone found responsible brought to justice.
The development has therefore created two separate but connected issues for investigators.
The first is whether an assault involving Abbey and the Foreign Affairs Ministry director actually occurred as alleged.
The second concerns Abbey’s identity and whether she was genuinely acting on behalf of any government institution or judicial officer when she allegedly sought the Note Verbale.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reportedly constituted a panel to investigate the alleged assault, Yunusa maintains that he cannot have assaulted a person he says he has never met.
At the same time, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s Protocol Unit says Abbey is unknown to it and that the description of her as the CJN’s protocol officer does not correspond with the established protocol arrangement for the Chief Justice.
The competing accounts leave the allegations unresolved, with the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s investigation expected to clarify both the circumstances of the reported confrontation and the true identity and official status, if any, of the woman at the centre of the controversy.
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