- Safiu Kehinde
The United States Department of States has approved the departure of its non-emergency staff from the US Embassy in Abuja over the spate of insecurity in Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a travel advisory released on the embassy’s official X handle on Wednesday.
The department charged its US Embassy staff to reconsider travelling to Nigeria on account of the deteriorating state of security in the country.
It maintained that Nigeria is currently faced with increased crime rate, kidnapping, terrorism, and unreliable healthcare.
“On April 8, 2026, the Department of State authorized non-emergency U.S. government employees and U.S. government employee family members to leave U.S. Embassy Abuja due to the deteriorating security situation.
“Violent crime is common throughout Nigeria. This includes armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, hostage-taking, roadside banditry, and rape.” The statement partly read.
For its citizens who are still in Nigeria, the US government listed states across the country that they should avoid visiting.
As contained in the travel advisory, the government urged its citizens not to travel to states like Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe, northern Adamawa states due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.
It also charged them to avoid Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara states due to unrest, crime, and kidnapping in the northern region.
In the southern part, the US citizens charged employees not to go to states like Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping, and unrest.