Armed Attack on Ghana Embassy in Libya

Ambassador to Libya and his family are living in the state of fear, doubt and uncertainty as some unidentified gun men have incessantly attacked and robbed the residence of H.E Kodjo Hodari-Okae in Tripoli.

Narrating his ordeal to Radio Gold, a local radio station in Accra, the Ghana Ambassador to Libya recounted that two armed attack have been launched to his residence in the spate of two weeks.

He said, in the early hours of Sunday the 35th of March 2012 he and his family woke up to realize that some people had broken into their house and made away with valuable properties belonging to both the Mission and his family. The Ghanaian diplomat said, as if that was not enough, while the police was trying to investigate the incident there was other gun attacks on the residency on the 29th March 2012.

H.E Kojo Hodari Okine said ‘’I was under the shower when I heard an unusual loud noise which sounded like an explosion. I rushed out of the bathroom and saw my wife holding her left arm and crawling and moving towards me and said ‘’the people are shooting in the bedroom so I pushed her to safety while I took preventive measures.

I later observed there was a lot of broken glasses and holes in the window, there was no light so I didn’t see the details.’’ He said.

According to my wife ‘’she saw some men numbering about 3-7 standing beside their cars opposite the residency, one of them wielding a gun, thus on seeing them she turned and it was then that he started firing into the house in the night.’’

He stated that since the incident happened he had informed the Police in Tripoli and the National Transitional Council (NTC) but nothing practical had been done allay his doubt and also to guarantee their safety, though he was assured by the authorities of positioning security guards at the residency. He said all the assurances have failed to materialized.

The questions simply is, is Libya safe enough for foreign nationals to reside?

Aside the residence of the Ghana Ambassador which was attacked on two occasions , other foreign missions have been attacked including Lesotho, Kenya, Congo Brazzaville and Kinshasa respectively, and according to reports they launched a grenade attack on the Belgium Embassy.

When Asked by the interviewer Valentina Ofori Afriyie whether he was safe or not, Ambassador Kodjo Hodari-Okae who sounded rather worried said, ‘’It’s difficult to tell. The situation is not something I can clearly define. Practically everyone has some kind of arms or weapon moving about with. We are praying and hoping that God will protect us, and hope we are safe. There is nothing to fear but we are living in doubt and uncertainty.’’ He said

H.E Hodari Okine since the incident had moved to a hotel with his family per the advice from the Accra office, for fortitude and solace. He indicated that he had met with the foreign affairs minister of Libya over the issue and promised to ensure their safety and security, but till date he had not heard or seen any action from them.

He called on the people of Libya to understand the role of missions and leave the diplomats in peace.