The United State Government has authorized 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.
The United States and the United Kingdom had on Sunday warned of a possible terrorist attack in the capital Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during a ministerial session at the ongoing UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week, assured Nigerians that the military and other security agencies have continued to do everything possible to secure and protect Nigerians and foreigners living in Nigeria.
"Terrorists have been hard hit and put on the run. Bandits have been decimated and scattered. Our country is safer today than at any time in recent times, thanks to the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform,” Mohammed said.
"Nigerians too should continue to be alert, but must not panic. Like I said in a recent statement, as far as insecurity is concerned, the worst is over for Nigeria,” Mohammed also said.
"Talking of clickbait, this may be what informed the spread of the supposed security alert issued recently by some foreign embassies in Nigeria. One would imagine that if indeed this kind of security alert was issued, it was for the attention of citizens of the issuing countries in Nigeria. Suddenly, this alert found its way into the media, both new and traditional, thus creating panic in the polity.
"Schools were shut. Businesses were closed. Travel plans were altered. Lives were disrupted. No one cared to find out about the authenticity of these alerts. They just published, got the benefit of massive clickbait and damned the consequences,” Mohammed stated.
The US approved the evacuation of its citizens from Abuja insisting that the terror attack threat was imminent.
In a recent development, Lai Mohammed added, "we are not going to be stampeded by such action, the United States has a right to tell its citizens what it wants them to do." He assured Nigerians of adequate protection for her citizens, stating that the security forces are on top of the situation. He also called on Nigerians to stop demarketing the country.
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