The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Lamuwa, has been accused of sexually harassing a female staff member of the ministry.
This was contained in a letter by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, addressed to Head of Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan.
In the letter, Tuggar said he felt it necessary to write to her following the “gravity of the matter”, urging Yemi-Esan to handle it accordingly.
The minister added that he would provide any assistance required for the head of service to discharge her duties.
A married employee of the ministry, Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi, had disclosed the excesses of the permanent secretary in a petition to the Minister, through her lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN).
Ajayi urged Tuggar to investigate the Permanent Secretary.
The petition titled, “Request For An Investigation Of Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s Conducts Of Sexual Harassment At The Place Of Work, Abuse Of Office, Official Intimidation And Discrimination,” was signed by Adebayo A. Oniyelu for Falana & Falana’s.
While narrating how the Permanent Secretary has been harassing her, the counsel reminded the minister that he had intervened in the past and was assured that such atrocity and bizarre act would not happen again yet, in May, he (Lamuwa) resumed his sexual molestation.
It read in part: “Our attention has been drawn to the bizarre and continuous incidents of sexual harassment, intimidation, oppression, discrimination and conduct likely to breach the public peace within your esteemed Ministry by Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa.
Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s conduct has created an unsafe and uncomfortable working environment for our client and other staff within your Ministry due to the disturbing experiences and ordeals from the Permanent Secretary.
“Consequent to the foregoing, we seek the intervention of your good office on the above- captioned matter based on the following facts.
“October 7, 2023 during the first policy retreat to review President Tinubu’s 4D policy, Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa approached our client to inquire as to why she did not sleep at the hotel and informed her that he would want her to come to his room after the event. Our client explained that she was a nursing mother and needed to go home to care for her baby.
“Dissatisfied with this, he reiterated his sexual advancement to our client by saying “Is it a big baby or small baby- he suspects it’s a big baby and would like to find out so he can join”. He, however, continued this line of inappropriate anecdotes throughout the retreat.”
