The United States has warned its citizens to be wary of travelling to 20 states in Nigeria, including the violence-hit northeast, due largely to security concerns.
The US State Department, through their website, said US nationals should “avoid all travel to Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states because the security situation in northeast Nigeria remains fluid and unpredictable.”
The State Department explained its inability to provide assistance in those three states due limitations, and also named another 17 states which should be avoided due to the risk of kidnappings, robberies and other armed attacks.
It further listed Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, and Zamfara as unsafe areas.
US citizens should be vigilant around government security facilities, churches, mosques, hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants, markets, shopping malls and other areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers, it said.
“Security measures in Nigeria remain heightened due to threats posed by extremist groups and US citizens may encounter police and military checkpoints, additional security and possible road blocks throughout the country,” it added.
“Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been displaced as a result of violence in the north.”
“The Department also warns against travel in the Gulf of Guinea, because of the threat of piracy. Attacks by pirates off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea have increased substantially in recent years. Armed gangs have boarded both commercial and private vessels to rob travellers.
“Based on safety and security risk assessments, the embassy maintains restrictions for travel by US officials to the states listed above. Officials must also apply for advance clearance by the US Mission for any travel to those states.
“Separatist groups have staged demonstrations in Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, and Rivers states, some of which have turned violent.
“Militant groups have destroyed oil production infrastructure in Bayelsa and Delta states.
“U.S citizens are advised to avoid the areas of these states where these incidents have occurred,” the statement added.
Nigeria is currently engulfed in a seven-year Boko Haram insurgency in the predominantly in the northeast which has claimed over 20,000 lives and forced 2.6 million more to flee their homes.
Violence in the Niger delta has also intensified with attacks oil pipelines and oil facilities, hurting output and stagnating revenues.
