Lebanese ambassador to Nigeria, Houssam Diab, walked out on the House of Representatives committee members on Diaspora Affairs on Thursday, July 9, 2020.
Mr Diab had gone to the National Assembly for a meeting called by the House of Representatives to discuss the maltreatment of Nigerians in Lebanon.
The meeting was also said to have been called to discuss the detention of one Temitope Arowolo, who’s being detained over the alleged attempted murder of her master.
The ambassador, who according to reports, was expecting a closed-door meeting, met lawmakers with other government officials and journalists at the venue of the meeting.
Irked by what he saw, Mr Diab got up and walked out on the lawmakers.
Reacting, Chairman of the committee, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, said she was shocked that the ambassador could walk out on them.
According to The Punch, some members of the committee went after the ambassador and later called for a closed-door session, sending journalists, security men and aides out of the venue.
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Speaking after the meeting, she said: It was an informal meeting because the Ambassador was nice enough to join us at the meeting. There is no law that says he has to be here today but because he has an interest in the joint relationship between Nigeria and Lebanon.
We have a lot of Nigerians in Lebanon and we have a lot of Lebanese in Nigeria. We have a relationship with Lebanon from the 50s so you can imagine how we have been.
This meeting today has further reiterated that the Lebanese community and the Nigerian community always stand together to ensure that justice and respect for human lives is a priority, and we will work together to bring modern-day slavery to an end, he noted.
She said the Lebanese government had agreed to release Arowolo and other Nigerians held in the country.
