The Australian government has issued a strong travel advisory, urging its citizens to reconsider trips to Nigeria due to a volatile security situation.
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In a statement released on Tuesday, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) highlighted terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime, and the risk of civil unrest as primary reasons for the warning.
The advisory reads:
“Reconsider your need to travel to Nigeria overall due to the volatile security situation and threat of terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime, and the risk of civil unrest. There’s a high risk of terrorist attacks across Nigeria by various militant groups, which may target foreign interests or occur indiscriminately.”
Potential targets for attacks include crowded areas such as:
- Hotels, bars, and restaurants
- Political meetings and government buildings
- Schools, markets, and shopping malls
- Places of worship and transport hubs
- Sporting events and camps for displaced people
DFAT explicitly advised against travelling to certain states, including Adamawa, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, and Zamfara, among others. Even the Federal Capital Territory, excluding Abuja, was marked as unsafe.
The warning comes on the heels of troubling data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which recorded 2,235,954 abductions between May 2023 and April 2024. The report further revealed that ransom payments during this period amounted to an estimated ₦2.2 trillion, with an average ransom of ₦2.7 million per incident.
- North-West Region: Recorded the highest ransom payments at ₦1.2 trillion.
- South-East Region: Reported the lowest at ₦85.4 billion.
The Australian government’s advisory emphasizes the need for heightened vigilance and careful consideration before planning travel to Nigeria.
