Accusation against Onyeama tissue of lies — Source

Following a petition against the Minister of Foreign Affairs by a one time Ambassador to Namibia, Lilian Onoh in which she accused the Foreign Affairs helmsman of a number of misdeeds as foreign minister, sources within the ministry and diplomatic circles have described the petition as a tissue of lies by a woman they described as suffering from mental illness.

In the petition, Onoh cited many occasions that Onyeama actually colluded with foreign authorities to oppress and mistreat Nigerians in diaspora.

These, she said, include the rounding up of Nigerians and Africans in China during the early days of Covid-19, when Onyeama gave the Chinese government’s viewpoint to justify the detention of Nigerians and Africans in China.

The former Ambassador also alleged that Onyeama sabotaged her efforts to protect Nigerians in Namibia from xenophobic Namibian security agencies.

According to her, he even colluded with the Namibian foreign secretary to ensure that Nigerians in Namibia were rounded up and deported without reason.

In the damning allegation, Onoh alleged that Onyeama sent his own accountant to Namibia to loot the Embassy’s coffers on his behalf.

He went far as to protect a Namibian lady known as Miss Signorita who stole thousands of Dollars from the Embassy because the lady may have been stealing on his behalf, she stated.

The former Ambassador also alleged that Onyeama regularly sabotaged efforts by diplomats to protect Nigerians in the diaspora.

She alleged that the demolition of the Embassy’s property in Ghana was because of this pattern of behaviour from Onyeama.

She further alleged that the consulate in Atlanta was defrauding Nigerians with his protection and gave evidence of Onyeama’s press releases in defence of the consulate and the crooked Nigerian business centre in Atlanta.

The source, who craved anonymity, noted that the petition was indeed baseless and that there was no iota of truth in it.

One of the respondents, a top career ambassador wondered what Ambassador Lillian Onoh wanted to benefit from harrassing the Minister.

He stated that Onoh who was his former colleague had approached him citing a number of grievances she had with the minister, including a number of personal issues, he would not want to disclose.

He said that he, however, advised her to try and resolve such issues amicably but was surprised at the path she took.

Another source this time a senior staff working at the ministry pointed out that Ambassador Onoh was alleged to have mental issues which she had serially exhibited on several occasions much to the chagrin and embarrassment of the ministry as well as foreign administrations.

The source noted that on a number of occasions, foreign nations in which Ambassador Onoh had been sent to had requested her removal as she was deemed to be confrontational and unnecessarily combative as well as disrespectful to the authorities there.

The source even alleged that Ambassador Onoh had been fired at one point in time but such a dismissal had been reversed owing to her influence as the daughter of a former governor of old Anambra State, C.C. Onoh.

This behavior, the source also hinted, was one of the many reasons why Ambassador Onoh had not been offered another appointment as a diplomat despite her over 40 years of active service in the ministry.

On the petition, the source at the ministry described such allegations as baseless and wondered how a minister would descend so low to encourage such as alleged.

He described the petition as bizarre and noted that the ambassador was obviously up to some mischief or was being sponsored to undertake such.