On the Abuja Terror Alerts Postscript by Waziri Adio Last Sunday, the US Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria issued an alert about an elevated risk of terrorist attacks in Abuja
Last Sunday, the US Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria issued an alert about an elevated risk of terrorist attacks in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. It advised Americans to avoid non-essential travels to Abuja, and for those already in the city to avoid certain places. On Thursday, the US Department of State took it a notch higher: it ordered non-essential US government employees and family members of US government staff to depart Abuja because of the risk of terrorist attacks.
So, despite the appeals for calm and the multiple assurances by the Nigerian authorities, the air in the city remains heavy with foreboding. Some schools and malls and companies are shutting their gates; and the markets and streets receive less traffic. This is to be expected, as it is natural for most people to err on the side of caution.
But it wouldn’t be out of place to use the existing intelligence-sharing channels to communicate with the Nigerian security and political authorities before going on the public blitz. If official feelers are anything to go by, nothing of such happened. There have been speculations about why things may have taken this turn. One is that the Americans and others don’t trust our security forces to act on time on shared intelligence.