Officials have cited terrorism and kidnapping as reasons for the new travel warning<\/p>\n
Washington has called on Americans to avoid traveling to Nigeria and has approved the departure of non\u2011emergency embassy staff and their relatives from the capital Abuja, pointing to a deteriorating security environment.\u00a0
\nIn an updated advisory released Wednesday, the US Department of State specifically advised against travel to northern and central states \u2013 including Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger and Taraba \u2013 due to terrorism and armed violence, as well as regions in the northwest and southeast plagued by unrest and criminal gangs.\u00a0
\nAccording to the advisory, violent crime is \u201ccommon throughout Nigeria,\u201d ranging from armed robbery and carjacking to hostage-taking and roadside banditry.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Does \u2018Christian genocide\u2019 capture the reality of this nation\u2019s security map?<\/p>\n
The State Department maintains a four-tier system, where Level 3 means \u201creconsider travel\u201d and Level 4 signals \u201cdo not travel.\u201d Nigeria has remained at Level 3 or Level 4 for much of the past decade. In the latest update, nearly two-thirds of the country \u2013 23 out of 36 states \u2013 fall under the strictest category.\u00a0
\n\u201cAmericans are perceived as wealthy and are often targets of crime and kidnapping,\u201d the statement read.\u00a0
\nThe West African state has long struggled with criminal gangs and extremist groups, which frequently hold people for ransom. This gained global attention in 2014 when Boko Haram militants kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State. ISWAP is a Boko Haram splinter group, which has conducted attacks on military and civilian targets.\u00a0
\nAt least 20 people were killed after armed militants attacked in Bagna and Erena in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State earlier this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
READ MORE: US warns of \u2018terrorist threat\u2019 in Nigeria<\/p>\n
Earlier in March, the US Embassy in Nigeria warned that American facilities and affiliated schools could be targeted in a potential terrorist attack, urging citizens to remain vigilant. Officials did not specify the source of the threat but remained on high alert amid the Middle East war, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 RT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Officials have cited terrorism and kidnapping as reasons for the new travel warning Washington has called on Americans to avoid traveling to Nigeria and has approved the departure of non\u2011emergency…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t