The Nigerian Embassy in Dublin has strongly advised the public not to do business with one of its former employees.
In a notice posted on its website referring to Nicholas Onyenobi Onyebuchi, the embassy states: “Members of the public having any business to transact with the embassy are hereby warned to desist from doing so with or through him.”
Although embassy officials declined to give a reason for taking this unusual step, a source at the embassy told Metro Éireann that officials “decided last December to terminate his appointment”.
According to the source, the decision was taken following a barrage of reports from the public – mostly Nigerians – against Onyebuchi.
“There is no month we did not have a report against him,” said the source, adding that disciplinary action – including at least “eight written queries” and warnings – were issued to him before he was finally sacked.
Metro Éireann can reveal that one of the reports against Onyebuchi came from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) in April last year, who notified the Nigerian Embassy that he had posed as a Nigerian diplomat and tried to secure a residence permit for a Nigerian woman whose residency in Ireland was being investigated.
Enquiries by Metro Éireann have revealed that Onyebuchi has not reported to work at the embassy since December following the last complaint made against him, and has not made contact with embassy officials since.
“He must have known that his days were numbered,” the embassy source said. “We are not surprised.”
