The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom has issued a security travel alert to British citizens, cautioning them against travelling to 21 of the 36 states in Nigeria. The alert issued by Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, said terrorists were planning to kidnap foreigners and urged them to also avoid some Niger Delta states.
In a statement on its website “updated June 17, 2019” and “still current at June 18, 2019,” the FCO listed the states as: Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, “riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States within 20 km of the border with Niger in Zamfara State. “The FCO advises against all but essential travel to: Bauchi State, Zamfara State, Kano State, Kaduna State, Jigawa State, Katsina State, Kogi State, within 20 kilometres of the border with Niger in Sokoto and Kebbi States, non-riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers State and Abia State.”
The alert warned against spiraling insecurity occasioned by activities of the terrorist groups, Boko Haram, and Islamic State for West Africa (ISWAP) in the North-east and banditry in the North-west. “The security environment in the North-east has deteriorated since 2018 and there is a heightened risk of kidnap. Kidnaps in the North-east have included humanitarian and private sector workers.
“There is also a high threat of criminal kidnap in the Niger Delta region and Kogi State,” said the alert.
The travel advisory listed the states to include Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe and the Niger Delta States of Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. If you travel to areas to which the FCO advise against travel, you are particularly at risk and will need a high level of security.
“If you are working in northern Nigeria, you should make sure your employers provide an adequate level of security where you live and where you work; make sure they regularly review security arrangements and familiarise yourself with those plans,” it said.
It stated further: “Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Nigeria. Most attacks occur in the north east, particularly in Borno (including central Maiduguri and along access routes connecting the city to other major towns and along the Niger border, including in Damasak), Yobe, including the eastern LGAs bordering Borno State both north and south of the Damaturu road), and Adamawa States.
“There have also been significant attacks in Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Jos and Bauchi States and in the Federal capital, Abuja. The terrorist threat across eastern Yobe and Borno State is high, with frequent recent attacks. Terrorist groups carried out attacks in North East Nigeria during the February 2019 election period, and further attacks are likely. We continue to advise against all travel to Borno and Yobe States.”
In a related development, youths posted to Taraba State for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program have expressed fear over the wave of violence ravaging parts of the state. Participants in the scheme had been expected to report to camps nationwide latest midnight yesterday. But in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, the location – barely a kilometre from the troubled communities – violence is sending shivers down the spine of many of the youths.
Meanwhile, 13 people were reportedly killed during fresh attacks in Ardo-Kola and Donga LGAs of the state on Monday night. Houses and cars were also razed during the onslaught blamed on herdsmen. A curfew is currently in place as the state swoons under the burden of ethnic conflicts and raids by armed herders. Monday’s incident followed an assault 24 hours earlier by heavily armed bandits on motorcycles who invaded Tudiri village via Jauro Yinu ward of Ardo-Kola. This was as dozens of women in black dresses protested against the killings of their husbands and children yesterday in Jalingo. Some of the women questioned why the federal and state governments were taking so long to restore sanity.
