Nigeria’s police force said it was tightening security as the United States ordered non-emergency diplomatic personnel to leave the capital, Abuja, with their families due to an “increased risk of terrorist attacks”.
Details of any threat are unknown, but residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been on high alert since Sunday after several Western embassies changed their travel advisories citing elevated risk, particularly in Abuja.
In a statement late Thursday, the Nigerian police instructed: “all strategic police directors in charge of commands and tactical formations within the country to strengthen security in their respective jurisdictions, especially in the FCT.”
Police Inspector General Usman Alkali Baba said “all emergency numbers” should be activated to help ensure “24/7 rapid response with combat officers and men on standby”.
He urged residents of the city of six million to “remain vigilant and report any suspicious or abnormal events and persons to the police.”
The statement came as the US State Department on Thursday ordered the departure of non-critical diplomatic personnel and their families from Abuja.
“Terrorists can strike with little or no warning,” targeting shopping malls, markets, hotels, restaurants, bars or schools, the State Department said in its country summary for Nigeria, but gave no further details.
The United States, Britain, Australia and Canada had issued warnings last weekend, although the latter three countries had not ordered any evacuation of staff or their families as of Friday morning.
On Thursday, Jabi Lake Mall, a major shopping mall in Abuja, was temporarily closed for unspecified security reasons.
The government said Nigerians and foreigners in the country “should remain vigilant but not panic.”
“I can assure everyone that our military and other security agencies have continued to do their best to secure and protect Nigerians and foreigners living in Nigeria,” said Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
“Terrorists have been hit hard and put on the run,” he said during a news conference on Tuesday.
Nigerian troops are deployed across the West African nation of some 200 million people, fighting heavily armed Islamist insurgents and criminals.
The jihadists generally operate in the northeast of the country, far from the capital, although they have small cells in other parts of the country.
The last time one of the groups, Boko Haram, attacked the city center was in 2014.
But the Islamic State West Africa Province, linked to the Islamic State group, has reported several attacks surrounding the FCT in the past six months, including a mass breakout in July.
The Kuje incident, in which more than 400 inmates escaped, including dozens of suspected jihadis, prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to say he was “disappointed” with his intelligence services.
Analysts have warned that insecurity could worsen with the start of the political campaign for the general elections to replace Buhari next year.