Diplomat’s House raid: Police apologises to Nigeria High Commission.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The British Police authority have apologised over the raid on the residence of the Deputy Head of Political Affairs in the London office of Nigeria High Commission, Mr Ikechukwu Nwokike.
The Nigeria Diplomat House in North London was raided early this month following a wrong signal supplied by aerial Helicopter scanner which spotted an unusual smoke suspected to be emitting from Cannabis factory.
An apology letter which emanated from Foreign and Commonwealth in London was sent to the High Commissioner, Dr Dalhitu Tafida.
It claimed UK police inadvertently entered the diplomat’s residence located at 113 Hendon Way, NW2.
The suspected smoke was later discovered to be emission from a dis-functioning heating system. Scotland Yard admitted the raid claiming it all happened after the warmth given off from the diplomats heating system was mistaken for signs of a cannabis factory.
Earlier reports had claimed officers searched the house of the High Commission’s deputy head of political affairs, after a helicopter using thermal imaging equipment spotted what appeared to be a higher than normal heat coming from the roof.
Drugs farms often use high-powered lights which give off huge amounts of heat to aid the growth of the illegal crop.
Police obtained a search warrant and raided Mr Nwokike’s home, apparently not having checked the identity of the occupant.
A report further claimed that Police found no drugs and traced the heat source to the central heating system.
An insider said the raid took place during a cold spell earlier this month and the central heating in the house was turned up to the maximum.
A police spokeswoman had said: “We can confirm a warrant to search for cannabis plants was executed at a home in north London on June 17 by officers acting on information from the Met air support unit.
“There were no drugs found and no arrests made. Further inquiries traced the heat source to the heating system.”
A spokesman for the Nigerian High Commission said that although the operation could have been interpreted as a violation of diplomatic conventions, the High Commission would not be taking the matter to the “extreme”.
He added: “We accept the explanation that the helicopter detected something but that these things don’t necessarily work with fine precision.”
However, an apology was contained in a letter dated June 18, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, addressed to the Nigerian High Commission in London.
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