MONROVIA – The Liberian Embassy in Nigeria has said its attention has been drawn to what it described as ‘a barrage of media reports’ by its Minister Counselor for Press and Public Affairs that his daughter was reportedly sexually abused by two children of one of the staffs working at the embassy.
Nat Bayjay claimed he has applied all diplomatic means to get the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dee Maxwell Keymayan, the Ministry of Information and the office of the President so that his daughter can seek a proper medication attention while the case is being looked at in court but to no avail.
But the Liberian Embassy in Nigeria in a statement Wednesday December 8, 2021 said the alleged rape incident occurred between the children of two diplomatic families residing at the Abuja Mission’s compound in September 2020 but only came to light in mid-April 2021.
As a Government of Liberia diplomatic Mission, the Embassy says it wishes to reassure the public of its zero tolerance to all forms of sexual molestations, gender-based violence, and all forms of discrimination against women and girls.
“The Embassy wishes to assure the public that the matter received the full attention and engagement of the Ambassador and his diplomatic staff: a timely investigation was done from 19 to 21, May 2021, based on an administrative hearing involving all parties, and the report was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia on May 22, 2021, for its consideration,” the Embassy said.
“The Ministry in turn conducted an independent probe of the matter and forwarded its findings to the Ministry of Justice of Liberia.
The Ministry of Justice dispatched the case to the Women and Children Protection Section of the Liberia National Police for investigation. It is understood that the case was transferred to the Juvenile Court for adjudication.
“When a matter is in court under the laws of the Republic of Liberia, it is sub judice, meaning it is under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion.
Plot 352 Cadastral Zone AO, Independence Avenue Near UN House, CentraTBusineSé District, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria,” said the Embassy.
The Embassy said it is constrained to issue the statement because its head of Mission has received a lot of calls from Liberian journalists and many members of his family, friends, former students, mentees, and associates, who are very concerned about the ‘personal attacks’ and defamation of his character in the media by Bayjay.
The Embassy is, meanwhile, appealing to the public to avoid condoning unsubstantiated sentiments and rather listen to the facts of the case based on the rule of law.
The Embassy, however, calls on the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urgently to address the legitimate needs mentioned by its Minister Counselor that it seconded to the Embassy through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“As to the libelous utterances and cunningly crafted shenanigans in the media by the Press Counselor against the Head Mission regarding the alleged rape case, the Embassy wishes to reassure the public that the Ambassador will be available, after the full course of the law on this issue is exhausted, to give his personal reactions to the unfortunate impugning of his hard earned and reputable character as a public servant who has given the best part of his life to the reconstruction of Liberia before and after its bitter civil war to the present.”