Nigeria dangerous

This item appears on page 21 of the February 2009 issue.

The Department of State warns against travel to Nigeria.

Rival ethnic groups have clashed violently in Delta state around Warri city and in North-Central Plateau state, and occasionally tension between some Muslim and Christian communities results in violence, though Americans have not been directly targeted; the states of Kano and Kaduna are particularly volatile. In Jos, Plateau state, the first local election in a decade sparked ethnic and religious clashes which left more than 300 people dead, Nov. 30-Dec. 1. 

All but essential travel should be avoided to the Niger Delta states of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers. Since January 2008, more than 44 foreign national oil workers and businesspeople have been kidnapped from offshore and land-based oil facilities, residential compounds and roads.

Violent crime committed by individuals and gangs as well as by some persons wearing police and military uniforms is an ongoing problem in Lagos and other cities as well as on the roads between cities, especially at night.