…Says Security Has Been Beefed Up Around FCT
Nigeria’s police force said it was beefing up security as the United States ordered diplomats’ families to leave the capital Abuja due to a “heightened risk of terrorist attacks.”
The details of any threat are unknown but residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been on high alert since Sunday after several Western embassies changed their travel advisories citing an elevated risk, particularly in Abuja.
Nigerian security forces are battling jihadist fighters mostly in the northeast of the country, but Islamic State-allied militants have claimed several recent attacks near the capital.
In a statement late on Thursday, Nigerian police instructed “all strategic police managers in charge of commands and tactical formations within the country to beef up security in their respective jurisdictions, especially in the FCT.”
The Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba said “all emergency numbers” should be activated to help insure “a 24/7 prompt response with combatant officers and men on standby.”
He urged residents of the city of about six million “to remain vigilant and report any suspicious or abnormal occurrence and persons to the police.”
The statement came as the US State Department on Thursday ordered the departure of diplomats’ families and also authorised the departure of non-emergency government employees from Abuja.
“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning,” targeting malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars or schools, the State Department said in its country summary for Nigeria, but did not give further details.
The United States, Britain, Australia and Canada had issued warnings last weekend, although the three latter countries had not ordered any evacuation of staff or their families as of Friday morning.
Separately, the US warned this week of a possible “terrorist” attack in South Africa’s largest city Johannesburg.
