Uncertainty Surrounds Alleged Assault Of CJN’s ‘Protocol Officer’ By Foreign Ministry Director

Uncertainty is clouding an alleged assault on a protocol officer said to be attached to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun, by the director of Consular Services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a development that is causing enormous furor within the Foreign Affairs ministry and confusion in the Ministry of Justice.

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that things took a dramatic turn a few days ago following a reported altercation between the director of Consular Services at the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Yunusa, popularly known as ‘Danbauchi’ and an alleged female protocol officer attached to the office of the CJN whose name was given as Mrs. Prisca Tajudeen Abbey.

According to reports, Mrs. Abbey accused Ambassador Yunusa of physically assaulting her while she was trying to explain the urgency of an application for Note Verbale for a senior official (names not given)  travelling abroad from her ministry which had been pending for weeks on the ambassador’s table.

Mrs Abbey’s claim had reportedly been bolstered by an official petition filed by the justice ministry to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the foreign ministry has set up a panel to investigate the alleged assault on Mrs Abbey.

This development is said to be causing disquiet in the foreign ministry amid other uncomfortable issues allegedly linked to Ambassador Yunusa.

These character flaws have   had deleterious impact on work flow within the ministry as Yunusa has allegedly also come under heavy criticism for denying senior officials desiring to travel for important events Note Verbale which has led to inability or delay to secure visas from foreign missions in Nigeria.

Yunuisa’s office oversees the processing of applications for consular support for government officials, particularly Note Verbale for those seeking expedited visa issuances by foreign embassies in Abuja to embark on official duties abroad.

According to the report, many have complained that by the time Ambassador Yunusa got to release the Note Verbale, the events they wanted to attend would have either been held or the time left too short to get the visa.

It was further alleged that since he was deployed to the office months ago, the fifth floor of the complex housing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is daily besieged by protocol officers of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) seeking Note Verbale as they wait endlessly for the often absent Ambassador Yunusa.

However, reacting to these multiple allegations, Ambassador Yunusa, during a visit to his office in Abuja on Friday, August 21,  2026, denied all the allegations, stressing that they were the figment of the imagination of the perpetrators of the false allegations.

He explained that the Consular section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is guided by rules, adding that his conducts had adhered strictly with the rules. He also said some people who bring requests to process the required document do so when it is either too late or even present forged documents out of desperation.

This development has triggered calls for investigation into this alleged conduct but Yunusa said  the investigation should extend to MDAs that bring in fictitious names and link them to high officials to seek note verbale after which some of them would travel abroad and abscond.

He noted that this development had led to different embassies and high commissions to decline some of the Note Verbale and subsequently denied issuance of visas as unofficial persons had been known to have obtained visas through official channels only to abuse their stay abroad and bring embarrassment to the country.

He added that those with genuine documents were treated with  the immediate attention required and no such complaints ever emerged  about his work schedule  as he had not received any query from his superiors regarding what he described as “the wild and  false allegations by unscrupulous people.”

He expressed shock on the alleged assault on the said Mrs. Abbey, saying he had neither met her physically nor contacted her in any sense, not to talk of assaulting her.

He said, “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.

“When requests come to me about any issue concerning Note Vebale, 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. During this process we have discovered that a whole lot of documents had been forged and we have taken necessary action on it.

“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 said.

LEADERSHIP also contacted the Protocol Unit of the Ministry of Justice to ascertain the identity of Mrs. Abbey, said to be a protocol officer attached to the CJN, and the result was more disturbing.   The head of the unit of the ministry, which also oversees the Supreme Court, Dr. Ngozi Okorie- Agwu, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that Mrs. Abbey is “a strange name,” adding that she is not a staff member of the protocol unit and might be an impersonator.

She further disclosed that the CJN does not have any protocol officer attached to her, adding that the unit has a thorough procedure for procuring Notre Verbale, through the chief registrar or his colleagues who would normally liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get the Note Verbale.