Off the wire
• Nigeria's inflation rises to 12.8 pct in March  • URGENT: U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan rules out 2016 presidential bid  • S. Africa simplifies procedure for registering businesses  • Feature: Iraqi army retakes north villages, step ahead to retrieve Mosul  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  • Crude prices rise on output freeze deal  • Roundup: EU members fail to meet relocation target: report  • Sudanese pound sharply declines against U.S. dollar  • Germany's benchmark DAX index closes up  • S. Sudan to officially join EAC on Friday  
You are here: 　 Home

Nigeria probes defamatory article on Swiss envoy: minister

Xinhua, April 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian government has directed an investigation into an alleged defamatory article in a Nigerian newspaper against the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to Nigeria, Eric Mayooraz.

A national daily had alleged that the Nigerian government had launched an investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the coming of Switzerland's Ambassador to Nigeria with a male spouse alleged to be his gay partner.

The report further alleged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was aware of the issue and has commenced probe

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama said in a statement made available to Xinhua in Abuja Tuesday that appropriate measures would be taken against anyone found wanting in the act, and expressed shock and dismay over the article.

"I wish to state categorically that the government has no knowledge whatsoever of any of the matters discussed in the article, and could therefore not have authorized anyone to speak on its behalf in respect of them," the minister said.

"With regard to the defamatory article, the government has ordered an investigation and appropriate measures will be taken for any wrongdoing," he added. Endit