BY BONNY AMADI
The Nigerian government has described as unbalanced a US advisory authorising the departure of non-essential personnel and urging Americans not to travel to the West African country.
Rabiu Ibrahim, a spokesperson to Nigeria’s Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, urged Nigeria’s partners to ensure balanced and up-to-date reporting that reflects the “progress being made” to secure Nigeria.
“We encourage our international partners to continuously engage with Nigerian authorities to obtain a more comprehensive and current understanding of the situation on the ground,” Mr Ibrahim wrote in a statement posted on X on Thursday.
In the US advisory which Cited insecurity in many parts of Nigeria, the US State Department urged Americans to avoid travels to Nigeria. It also asked nonessential American embassy officials to leave the country. A tradition of hostile remarks by American officials about the current Nigerian government. The US government noted that conditions vary significantly across states, with some areas facing higher security risks than others.
It listed the states with higher risk as Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Kogi, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina.
Others, it said, are Sokoto, Zamfara, Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers.
“Do not travel to these areas for any reason. The security situation in these states is unstable and uncertain. This is because of widespread terrorist activity, violence between communities, and kidnapping. Security operations to counter these threats may occur without warning,” the statement read.
Nigeria faces several security crises with various armed groups operating in different parts of the country. Armed groups, including terrorists, have carried out attacks in several states, including Katsina, Sokoto, Borno, Plateau and Benue, killing thousands of people annually and displacing many more.
The Nigerian government and many of its international partners have admitted the security failings and called for more government action to stem the violence. However, the US has repeatedly framed the violence as targeting Christians and used that as a basis of its hostile attitude to the government, amidst concerns that it seeks to coerce the Nigerian government into accepting a US military base in Nigeria.
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