Canada has issued a heightened travel advisory urging citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Nigeria including Abuja citing widespread insecurity driven by terrorism, crime, armed attacks, and kidnappings.
The Government of Canada on Monday issued a new travel advisory warning citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Nigeria, including the capital, Abuja, due to an increasingly unpredictable security situation marked by terrorism, crime, armed attacks, and kidnappings.
While Lagos and Calabar remain exceptions where travellers are advised to exercise “a high degree of caution” Canada lists vast parts of northern, central and southeastern Nigeria as too dangerous to visit, naming states such as Kaduna, Plateau, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Abia, Bayelsa and others as high-risk zones. The advisory also cautions against travelling within 10 kilometres of Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Niger and northern Benin because of cross-border militant activity.
Warning that attacks can occur “with little or no warning” and often target public places and foreigners, the government emphasized that Nigeria now ranks among the most high-risk destinations for Canadians and urged those already in the country to stay vigilant, limit movement and monitor local media for threats.