The United States has added Nigeria to a list of countries facing partial travel restrictions, citing “security and documentation” concerns.
The White House announced the presidential proclamation on
Tuesday, updating its list of countries facing full and partial travel
restrictions.
Nigeria was among 15 mostly African countries, including
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, and The
Gambia, slammed with a partial travel suspension.
Others listed are Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania,
Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
“Radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the
Islamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which creates
substantial screening and vetting difficulties,” the White House said,
justifying Nigeria’s addition to the list.
“According to the Overstay Report, Nigeria had a B-1/B-2
visa overstay rate of 5.56 percent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of
11.90 percent.”
Turkmenistan, which was previously on the list, was removed
owing to a demonstration of “significant progress in improving its identity
management and information-sharing procedures”.
BURKINA FASO, MALI, NIGER FACE FULL SUSPENSION
The Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are
among five countries newly placed under full restrictions and entry
limitations.
The White House cited operations of “terrorist
organizations” in the countries as the reason for making the cut.
The other two additions were South Sudan and Syria.
Full travel restrictions on nationals from Afghanistan,
Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia,
Sudan, and Yemen remain in effect.
Laos and Sierra Leone, previously under partial
restrictions, have now been placed under full restrictions.
“It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure that
those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people,” the
White House said.
The proclamation added that the restrictions are necessary
to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the US lacks sufficient
information to assess the risks they pose, enforce immigration laws, and
counterterrorism objectives.
THE STRETCHED VISA ROW
In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order
imposing a full travel ban on nationals of 12 countries.
Trump also placed heightened restrictions on people from
seven countries.
The US government asked the affected countries to meet
certain requirements within 60 days.
At the time, Nigeria was not included on either of the
lists.
However, concerns began to rise after allegations of a
Christian genocide peddled by US lawmakers and secessionist groups began to
gain momentum.
In October, Trump announced his decision to officially
redesignate Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC).
He blamed radical Islamists for the “mass slaughter”.
On Monday, Riley Moore, US congressman, said Nigeria and the
US were close to reaching an agreement on a “strategic security framework”
aimed at tackling terrorism in the West African nation.
Moore introduced a resolution in the US house of
representatives last month “condemning the ongoing persecution of Christians in
Nigeria and supporting Trump’s move to redesignate Nigeria a CPC.”
The US congressman spoke of the security cooperation after
visiting Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), during a “fact-finding
mission” to Nigeria.
Amid the row, the US announced new visa restrictions earlier
this month targeting Nigerians accused of undermining religious freedom.
Marco Rubio, secretary of state, said the restrictions will
affect those who “knowingly direct, authorize, fund, support, or carry out
violations of religious freedom”.
He said the visa policy applies to Nigeria and other
governments or individuals that persecute people for their religious beliefs.
This is not the first visa standoff between both countries
in 2025.
In July, the US embassy announced a reduction in the
validity period and entry allowance for “most” non-immigrant and non-diplomatic
visas issued to Nigerians, effectively limiting the legality of their stay in
the US to three months with a single entry.
An alleged imbalance in visa reciprocity from Nigeria was
cited as the reason for the hard-hitting penalty.
However, diplomatic sources told TheCable Nigeria’s refusal
to accept asylum seekers from the US was partly responsible for the visa
restrictions.
TheCable learnt that the US also pushed for the option of
allowing its citizens to electronically apply for Nigeria’s five-year visa
without visiting an embassy, alongside access to the country’s criminal
database so that Nigerians with previous criminal records who are now living in
America can be identified for deportation.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, met
Richard Mills, US ambassador to Nigeria, on Monday.
Though details of their meeting were not made public, the US
embassy said the American government looked forward to working with Nigeria on
issues of mutual concern.
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