The Nigerian House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a series of motions on Wednesday that condemned the “maltreatment & institutional racial discrimination against Nigerians living in China.” The motion was brought to the floor by Representative Benjamin Kalu from the southern region of Bende who made an impassioned speech that denounced allegations that Nigerians had to undergo additional COVID-19 testing in Guangzhou and had their passports illegally confiscated, among other issues.
Representative Kalu also claimed that Chinese authorities violated the Vienna Convention on consular relations in their treatment of Nigeria’s consul general in Guangzhou, Anozie Maduabuchi Cyril, who was involved in a high-profile dispute with a Chinese official that later went viral on social media.