US orders families of embassy employees to depart Nigeria due to heightened risk of terrorism and other security reasons
On May 8, 2018, the United States Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, ordered the families of more than 1,500 foreign nationals currently serving in the United States Embassy in Nigeria to leave the country. The decision follows the attacks in New York and Orlando, and is a continuation of a long-term US policy of not engaging in diplomatic or consular missions in Nigeria that is designed, in part, to protect the US mission against an escalation in terrorism and to protect the wider US interests in Africa.
On June 29, 2018, Nigerian authorities placed the United States Embassy building on lockdown after reports of gunfire inside the compound, during which one person was killed. According to President Buhari, an American named Chris Stevens was killed in the attack. On July 17, the State Department ordered the US Embassy in Lagos to be closed and the American diplomatic and consular staff to leave, according to an internal security official. The official insisted the decision was not related to the New York and Orlando attacks.
On August 2, 2018, President Buhari confirmed that a former member of the US Air Force hostage rescue team had been killed in a terrorist attack in Lagos. The United States Department of State confirmed that Ambassador Matthew Tueller and 12 other US personnel were killed in the attack.
On August 3, 2018, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry suspended all diplomatic, consular, and military relations with the United States. Nigerian Ambassador to the United States Michael J. Obuzor ordered the US embassy to be closed for two days as a result of the attack on the US Embassy. The announcement was first reported by the local news website Aajafa.com, which is run by members of the Nigerian governing party APC.
On August 8, 2018, the Office of Website Management (OWM) terminated its contract with the Global Website Host Help Desk (gwh) after it
