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| Nigeria rejects US terror alert
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Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) -
Nigeria's federal government has rejected a terror alert
issued by the United States, calling it an unfair assessment of
the security situation in the African nation.
In a message meant for American citizens in Nigeria, the US Embassy said it had
received reports of possible attacks against missions close to the US
Consulate-General in the economic capital city of Lagos, and warned such citizen
s to be careful.
But Nigerian government spokesman Dora Akunyili said there was no basis for issu
ing such alert.
Akunyili, the Minister for Information and National Orientation, said in a state
ment on Monday night: "The attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to
a ‘terror alert’ released by the United States Embassy in Nigeria on April 5, 20
0
9... The crux of the ‘alert’ was that terrorist attacks on some diplomatic missi
o
ns in Lagos were imminent,
and the release called on Americans to report any suspicious activity.
"The Federal Government considers this report to be an unfair assessment of the
present security situation in the country, especially Lagos. In the history of N
i
geria,
there has never been a time when an embassy or diplomatic mission was bombed or
attacked in Nigeria. Allegations of terrorist activities in Nigeria are yet unpr
o
ven
and across the country most Nigerians are going about their daily chores as resp
onsible citizens. Therefore, the release by the US Embassy gives a false picture
of the
security situation in Nigeria.
"Even in the Niger Delta, hostage taking is on the decline because of the govern
ment’s policies which are aimed at accelerated development of the region and to
e
ngage
genuinely aggrieved communities. This alert is unfair to our country and gives a
wrong impression about our people."
The Minister therefore urged all ''Nigerians, expatriates and tourists to go abo
ut their plans and businesses as there is no critical threat in the form of any
i
mmediate terrorist
attack at this time."
In a related development, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Marvel Akpoyib
o, has said that the alert is uncalled for and asked people to go about their la
w
ful duties.
"I don’t take such intelligence signal serious because we have our intelligence
and security operatives in this country and they are not sleeping, they have not
told us that we are
not safe. So, I think such report is just to create unnecessary panic in the sys
tem and it is not good," the local media quoted Akpoyibo as saying on Tuesday.
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| Lagos - 07/04/2009 |
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