Minister debunks U.S. travel advice warning

 …Says  Nigeria is safe, open to foreign investments

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, has debunked the United States Embassy notice of an increase threat to major hotels in Nigeria’s larger cities, saying  that the country  is safe and open to foreign investments and tourists to explore and benefit.

Idris stated this  in his address at an interactive session with senior media editors and executives on Monday in Abuja.

Recall that the U.S, had on November 3, issued a warning to its citizens in Nigeria to avoid major hotels in the country, citing some security threats targeted at these hotels in the larger cities of the country.

But reacting  to the warning ,  Idris said all countries in the world have one challenge or the other which could be economy, political, gun violence, social or cultural.

“We understand the concerns raised by the United States Government in their recent travel advisory, but believe that it is imperative that we do not generalise isolated incidents across the entire hospitality industry.

“What we have seen is that, such advisories do not achieve anything other than needless panic, and they can have severe adverse economic impact, not to talk of what they do to undermine the government’s efforts to attract investment.

“We have consistently prioritised the safety and wellbeing of all visitors to our country. We have implemented comprehensive security measures both at the federal and state levels, to ensure the safety of tourists and international guests.

“These measures include intense intelligence gathering, acquisition and deployment of additional platforms, training and re-training of personnel, cooperation with international law enforcement agencies, among others, to maintain a secure environment.

“The Nigerian Government is dedicated to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all Nigerians and visitors to the country and will continue to work towards maintaining a secure and hospitable environment for tourists and business travellers and the likes.

“Our country is relatively safe and open to foreign investment and tourists to come and invest, explore and ripe the benefits,” Idris stressed.

He further explained that the Nigerian security agencies have been very busy, doing their best to keep us all safe.

The Minister emphasised that in various parts of Kaduna State, seven bandits were neutralised, in various operations between Nov. 1 and Nov. 3.

He explained that on November 3,  in Kano State, a joint operation by troops of the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Services carried out a dawn raid operation on terrorists’ hideout in Gezawa Local Government Area.

He added that the dawn raid operation successfully averted an imminent attack on Kano by insurgents.

“The operation recovered AK 47 Rifles, AK 47 Rifle Magazines, a Rocket Propelled Gun (RPG), RPG bombs, Hand grenades, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) making materials, among others.

“In Katsina, two NYSC members abducted by bandits were successfully rescued.

“In the North-East and North-West of the country, the Nigerian Air Force has been very busy, with several successful airstrikes on bandits’ and terrorists’ camps and hideouts in Katsina, Zamfara and Borno.

“The Air Force has also recently taken delivery of four new aircrafts, to strengthen the fight against banditry and terrorism.

“In our maritime environment, on Oct. 25, the Eastern and Central Naval Commands flagged off a Joint Sea Exercise, Exercise SEA GUARDIAN 2023.

“I have taken some time to outline some of these efforts to make the point that our security and intelligence agencies are constantly at work, foiling threats, and neutralising those who seek to undermine the security of the country,” he said.

The Minister said such successes deserve the full support of all Nigerians and the media included.

He urge Nigerians and the media to pay attention to what the armed forces are doing, and give amplified coverage to their successes and gains.

“The bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, pirates, etc are waging not only a physical battle but also a psychological one, trying to undermine our faith and confidence in our security agencies.

“As media leaders, we must be very careful to not play into their hands, through reporting that might be misleading or sensational or that undermines the morale of our security personnel,” Idris said.

Those present during the interactive session include the Speacial Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of NAN, Mr Ali M. Ali and Mr Silas Nwoha, respectively.

Others were the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, Mr Jibrin Ndace, and the Director-General of National Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Charles Ebuebu and many media gurus and personalities across the country. (NAN)