By Biodun Busari

The United States government has issued directives for the evacuation of its government employees and their families from Nigeria over potential terrorist attacks.

The US State Department announced the approval of the evacuation in its updated Nigeria travel advisory on Tuesday evening.

Recall that the US and the United Kingdom had on Sunday alerted Nigeria of a possible terrorist attack in Abuja, targeted government structures, places of worship and schools, among others.

Read also: US, UK terror alerts, evacuations aimed at embarrassing security agencies — Sources

“On October 25, 2022, the Department authorized the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members due to the heightened risk of terrorist attacks,” the advisory read.

“The U.S. Embassy Abuja continues to have limited ability to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Nigeria. The U.S. Consulate in Lagos is providing all routine and emergency services to U.S. citizens in Nigeria.”

However, the Federal Government, reacting to the terror warning via the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed debunked the security alert, stressing that Nigerians are safer now.

Mohammed stated that the Nigerian Armed Forces were on top of security challenges in the country.

“Our country is safer today than at any time in recent times, thanks to the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

“We do not discountenance the fact that terrorists, bandits and their kind would always want to do whatever it takes to disrupt our nation’s peace, security and stability. But our security forces have been proactive,” Mohammed said.