There was disturbance at the Embassy of
Nigeria in Washington D.C. United States last
Monday after two officials of the embassy began
fighting.
The officials, according to Per Second News, are
Mr. Robert Mumford Ditto, a Filipino and one
Saka Ologele from Nigeria. Apparently left
fuming after an argument, Ditto, angrily threw a
chair at Ologele.
Some officials of the embassy tried to engage
with the men but the situation then escalated
into a physical fight, in the full glare of dozens of
guests and visa applicants.
Ditto called in agents from the Washington
Capitol Secret Service Police to deal with the
commotion, there after several people became
angry at his utterances.
No fewer than five police officers arrived and
made their way into the embassy to restore
order and calm panicky guests and visa
applicants.
It took the timely intervention of acting
Ambassador, Mr. Hakeem Balogun, to prevent
the secret service agents from arresting the
officials.
The acting ambassador has suspended the duo
indefinitely, it was learnt yesterday morning.
Police confirmed the altercation inside the
embassy but did not report any arrest.
Commenting on the incident, a band of Nigerian
workers complained about the utterances of
Filipino citizens working at the embassy.
Workers alleged that they have been arbitrary
and overboard.
Investigations also revealed that in the Defence
Attache section of the embassy, Nigerian
diplomats have in most times preferred Filipinos
to assist in the work there.
From local office assistants to drivers, the
department in charge of intelligence uses
foreigners, especially the Filipinos, workers
alleged.
It was also gathered that the Deputy Defence
Attache has a Filipino secretary in this days
where the line between diplomat, embassy
workers and spy is sometimes blurred.
“You will never see a foreigner at Chinese,
Indian, Russian, even at the Ghana embassy at
strategic positions,” said a visa applicant.
Approaching foreign nationals and asking them
to work for your government is generally agreed
to lie in the realm of espionage.
Some in Washington have questioned the
employment of Filipinos working at sensitive
positions inside the embassy.
Reports in the past revealed that some foreign
workers in some embassies have been caught
surreptitiously seeking to discover passwords,
details of private and official email, tracking
movements and mobile phone accounts of
foreign officials.
This is an everyday activity that lies deep within
the field of espionage, said a diplomat.
“Drivers deployed to diplomats drive with their
ears cocked for interesting intelligence.
“There is a degree of overlap. Diplomats, spies
and journalists are all basically nosy people.
They all want to find out things that are not
generally known,” said a Nigerian diplomat
asked about the Filipinos at the embassy of
Nigeria.