The United States ordered its non-primary diplomats and their families to leave Abuja due to the “increase of the threat of terrorist attacks” on the capital, and Nigerian police responded by announcing that they are trying to tighten security measures throughout the entire country.
Later, the United States clarified its earlier remark by saying that it exclusively evacuates families from the Nigerian capital—not diplomats.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revised its statement to clarify that only families were subject to the departure order and that non-basic diplomats were given the option to remain and were not required to evacuate.
While the nature of the threat is still unknown, the residents of the federal capital area are on a maximum alert since Sunday after many Western embassies issued warnings through which their citizens were advised to limit travel to Nigeria, the country that includes the largest number of population in Africa.
The Nigerian police issued a statement Thursday night urging its senior officers to “increase security in their locations, especially in the federal capital.”
“A vigilant and reporting the police of any suspicious situations or persons,” the Inspector General of the Police, Othman Alkali, requested Baba, one of the six million residents of the area.
Nigeria declares that security measures would be tightened as the threat of terrorist strikes increases.
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