Insecurity: U.S Warns Citizens Against Visiting 21 States In Latest Travel Alert On Nigeria

Despite spirited efforts by the Nigerian Government to rid the country of criminal elements who are giving the country a bad image, the United States has issued a travel alert on the country with a warning to its citizens against travelling to Adamawa, Borno and Yobe; the areas under emergency rule. An updated statement released by the U.S. State Department dated June 3 said“the ability of the U.S. Missionin Nigeria to provide assistance to its citizens in those states remains severely limited”. It said the department had continued to recommend that citizens avoid all but essentialtravels to some states in the country due to the risk of kidnappings, robberies and other armed attacks. States listed in the travel warning are Abia, Akwa Ibom,Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa and Kaduna. Others are: Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara. “The Department also warns against travel to the Gulf of Guinea because of the threat of piracy. “Based on safety and security risk assessments, the Embassy maintains restrictions for travel by U.S. officials to all northern Nigerian states in addition to those listed above. “Officials must receive advance clearance by the U.S. Mission for any travel deemedas mission-essentia,” the statement said. The alert also cautioned U.S. citizens to be aware that extremists could expand their operations beyond northern Nigeria to the country’s middle and southern states. It concluded by noting that the latest travel warning replaces the earlier one issuedfor Nigeria dated Dec. 21, 2012.