THE United States of America (USA) has issued a travel advisory to its citizens against travelling to Nigeria over insecurity challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US State Department had in a statement on its website, urged its citizens to reconsider travelling to Nigeria due to COVID-19 and crime such as terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime.
According to the statement, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Nigeria due to COVID-19.
The security advisory, which was dated August 6 said citizenry should not travel to Borno and Yobe, and Adamawa states due to terrorism.
It also listed Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, and Yobe States as areas vulnerable to kidnapping.
For maritime crimes, civil unrest, kidnapping and other crimes, the consulate listed the coastal states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, and Rivers as vulnerable areas.
Do Not Travel to: Borno and Yobe States and Northern Adamawa State due to terrorism: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, and Yobe states due to kidnapping: Coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime,” the statement read.
The statement titled, “Country Summary” also said Nigeria is known for violent crime – such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, and rape – is common throughout the country. Exercise extreme caution throughout the country due to the threat of indiscriminate violence.
The US advisory is coming few days after the United Kingdom (UK) issued a travel advisory to its citizens in Nigeria against travelling to Kaduna and some other states in the country over insecurity challenges.
The UK Government stated all but essential travels to Kaduna, Bauchi, Zamfara, and Kano states should be avoided by Britons in Nigeria.
According to the UK Government, its citizens should avoid travelling to Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe states.
The riverside of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states within 20kilometre of the border with Niger in Zamfara State were also among the states on the red flag by the UK Foreign Office.
The UK Foreign Office further stated that the current insecurity in Nigeria has necessitated the temporal withdrawal of a small number of UK staff and dependants at the British High Commission in Abuja and the British Deputy High Commission in Lagos.
Olayinka works with The ICIR as the Social Media Manager, Reporter and Fact-checker. You can shoot him an email via shehuolayinka@gmail.com. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @BelloYinka72