U.S. warns on Nigeria travel

The United States did not put all of Nigeria on its highest warning, but it did something close enough to disrupt real travel plans: on April 8 it added five more states to its “Do Not Travel” list and said non-emergency embassy staff and family members could leave Abuja because security had deteriorated. (travel.state.gov, ng.usembassy.gov) That matters because Nigeria has 36 states, and the U.S. now tells Americans not to travel to 23 of them. The newly added five were Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger, and Taraba. (travel.state.gov) The national rating for Nigeria stayed at Level 3, which is “Reconsider Travel,” but the map inside the advisory is much harsher than the headline number. The State Department says the risks behind the warning are crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and patchy health care access. (travel.state.gov) The embassy move is a second signal, because governments do not usually thin out their own staff unless they think the risk has changed for people on the ground. The U.S. Embassy in Abuja said it will remain open, but with limited ability to provide emergency services, while the consulate in Lagos will keep providing routine and emergency services. (ng.usembassy.gov) The warning is not about one single hotspot. The State Department says terrorists in Nigeria may strike with little or no warning and lists malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, schools, government buildings, and transport hubs as possible targets. (travel.state.gov) Kidnapping is a separate problem from terrorism, and the advisory treats it that way. The embassy says kidnappings for ransom happen often and says dual-national visitors are a frequent target, which is especially relevant for Nigerian Americans visiting family. (ng.usembassy.gov) This did not land in a vacuum. In March, the U.S. Embassy in Abuja had already warned about a possible terrorist threat aimed at American facilities and schools in Nigeria, so the April 8 changes look more like an escalation than a surprise. (pulse.ng, ng.usembassy.gov) Nigeria’s government rejected the U.S. message on April 10 and said the country is “not unsafe,” calling the picture painted by Washington too broad. That pushback matters because Abuja is arguing that a country of more than 200 million people should not be judged by its worst-affected regions. (pulse.ng) There is also a political backdrop here. Semafor noted that ties were already strained after the United States imposed new entry restrictions on Nigerians in late 2025, so this travel warning lands on top of an already tense relationship rather than a neutral one. (semafor.com, semafor.com) If you were planning a trip, the practical change is simple: this is no longer just a caution to be careful. It is the U.S. government saying that in most of Nigeria’s states it would prefer you not go at all, and in Abuja it has already reduced its own footprint while it reassesses the security situation. (travel.state.gov, ng.usembassy.gov)