Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Malagi Idris, on Monday cautioned the U.S. Mission in Nigeria and other foreign missions in the country against “needless security advisories.”
Railing against such advisories, the Minister told journalists in Abuja that they are having far-reaching implications on the general polity as well as the country’s economy.
On November 3, the US Mission alerted its citizens in the country of “an elevated threat to major hotels in Nigeria’s larger cities” and urged its nationals to “consider this information when arranging lodging or visiting major hotels in Nigeria”.
Calling the issuance of such alerts “needless,” Idris complained that such advisory was going to undermine the efforts the government had been making to attract investors to Nigeria.
Stating that the government had consistently prioritized the safety and well-being of all visitors to Nigeria, the Minister noted: “We have implemented comprehensive security measures both at the federal and state levels to ensure the safety of tourists and international guests. These measures include intense intelligence gathering, acquisition and deployment of additional platforms, training and re-training of personnel, cooperation with international law enforcement agencies, among others, to maintain a secure environment.”
Idris said the security agencies had remained on their toes in ensuring that citizens were safe, stating that, seven bandits were neutralized in various operations between November 1 and 3 in Kaduna State.
He noted that in Katsina State, two corps members who were kidnapped by bandits were successfully rescued by security agencies.
“In Kano State, on November 3, a joint operation by troops of the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Services carried out a dawn raid operation on terrorists’ hideout in Gezawa Local Government Area, successfully averting an imminent attack on Kano by insurgents. The operation recovered AK-47 rifles, AK-47 rifle magazines, a Rocket Propelled Gun (RPG), RPG bombs, hand grenades, Improvised Explosive Device (IED)-making materials, among others.”
“In the North-East and North-West of the country, the Nigerian Air Force has been very busy, with several successful airstrikes on bandits’ and terrorists’ camps and hideouts in Katsina, Zamfara and Borno states.
“The Air Force has also recently taken delivery of four new aircraft, to strengthen the fight against banditry and terrorism.”
“In our maritime environment, on October 25, the Eastern and Central Naval Commands flagged off a Joint Sea Exercise, Exercise SEA GUARDIAN 2023,” he said.