US Orders Embassy Staff Out of Abuja, Lists 23 Nigerian States to Avoid

The United States has ordered non-emergency embassy staff and their families to leave Abuja, citing a deteriorating security situation in Nigeria.

The travel advisory, updated on April 8, also urges American citizens to reconsider travelling to Nigeria altogether, pointing to persistent threats of terrorism, kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest.

The advisory places Nigeria at Level 3 (Reconsider Travel) overall, while 23 states have been escalated to Level 4 (Do Not Travel). Newly added to the highest-risk category are Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger, and Taraba.

The Do Not Travel list includes Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe, and northern Adamawa — areas the State Department says face “widespread violence between communities and armed crime, including kidnapping and roadside banditry.”

An additional seven northern states — Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara — are flagged for unrest and kidnapping risks. Six southern states — Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers (excluding Port Harcourt) — are highlighted for crime.

Nigeria’s government has pushed back. A spokesperson for the Minister of Information called the advisory “unbalanced” and urged international partners to engage with Nigerian authorities for a more accurate picture of the security situation.

The US Embassy in Abuja has also suspended visa appointments, though the Consulate General in Lagos continues normal operations.

For Nigerians, the advisory is a sobering read — not because the security concerns are new, but because having 23 of your 36 states labelled as places foreign governments warn their citizens to avoid is a stark measure of how far there is to go.