Parts of Nigeria appears not to be safe for foreigners following the United States on Thursday ordering non-emergency of the U.S. government employees and family members to depart Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
The officials cited a heightened risk of terrorist attacks, according to a report carried by Reuters which was sighted by DGN Online.
The order was announced in an updated State Department advisory, warning U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to the African country due to crime, terrorism and other threats.
The order follows a warning from the United States and Britain on Sunday of an elevated risk of terror attacks in Abuja.
Nigeria is in a conflict with an Islamist insurgency primarily in the country’s northeast.
The Islamic State in July claimed responsibility for a raid on a prison in Abuja, freeing some 440 inmates and raising fears that insurgents were spreading further.
In addition to Abuja, the United States advised citizens not to travel to a number of Nigerian states, including Borno and Yobe in the northeast.
The United States on Thursday ordered its non-emergency diplomatic staff and families of government employees to leave Nigeria’s capital Abuja due to a “heightened risk of terrorist attacks.”
The announcement came only two days after the department said that — amid concerns — it would permit nonessential staff at the embassy.
By Vincent Kubi