LAGOS (Reuters) – Canada on Monday halted operations at its embassy in Nigeria until further notice and issued a warning against nonessential travel to the west African nation, joining the United States and United Kingdom.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said in a statement that were deaths and injuries in a fire on Monday at the High Commission of Canada but did not give figures.
“President Tinubu prays for the repose of the departed souls and wishes all injured persons a rapid and full recovery,” the statement said.
The High Commission of Canada did not comment on the fire but said in a post on social media site X it had “temporarily suspended operations until further notice.”
The embassy issued a travel advisory, warning against non-essential travel to Nigeria, including capital Abuja, “due to the unpredictable security situation throughout the country and the significant risk of terrorism, crime, inter-communal clashes, armed attacks and kidnappings.”
Tinubu, preoccupied with fixing the economy, has yet to outline how he plans to tackle widespread insecurity across the country, including a long-running insurgency in the northeast and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest.
The United States and United Kingdom on Friday said there was an “elevated threat to major hotels in Nigeria’s larger cities” and warned against travelling to Africa’s most populous nation.
Western countries in Nigeria routinely issue travel warnings, which the government often dismiss as lacking merit.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
