‘UK’s travel warning to nationals great blow to drive for foreign investors’
Security consultant and public affairs commentator, Dr Ugbo Anaba, has decried the latest blanket travel warning issued to British citizens by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom against travelling to 21 states in Nigeria.
FCO had in a statement on its website “updated June 17, 2019” and “still current at June 18, 2019,” the FCO listed the states as: Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, “riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States within 20 kilometres of the border with Niger in Zamfara State.
The statement added that “The FCO advises against all but essential travel to: Bauchi State, Zamfara State, Kano State, Kaduna State, Jigawa State, Katsina State, Kogi State, within 20 kilometres of the border with Niger in Sokoto and Kebbi States, non-riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers State and Abia State.”
“Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Nigeria. Most attacks occur in the north east, particularly in Borno (including central Maiduguri and along access routes connecting the city to other major towns and along the Niger border, including in Damasak), Yobe, including the eastern LGAs bordering Borno State both north and south of the Damaturu road), and Adamawa States.
“There have also been significant attacks in Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Jos and Bauchi States and in the Federal capital, Abuja. The terrorist threat across eastern Yobe and Borno State is high, with frequent recent attacks. Terrorist groups carried out attacks in North East Nigeria during the February 2019 election period, and further attacks are likely. We continue to advise against all travel to Borno and Yobe States.”
In his assessment, Dr Anaba argued that the FCO blew the level of travel risks out of proportion, saying “Even though there are established cases of momentary violence in some states, I do not think that branding up to 21 out of Nigeria’s 36 states as terror risk states is reasonable”.
“However, the travel warning only raised the security red flag, indicating that the security agencies have been called to serious duty.
“But some of us are worried when we begin to hear from the high echelon of the security forces that soldiers commitments to the war against banditry and insurgency is dropping. To me, they have just indicted their strategies in frontline soldiers’ welfares.
