The United States Department of State has placed 23 countries under its highest travel advisory, Level 4, urging American citizens to avoid travelling to those destinations under any circumstances.
In an updated advisory posted on Thursday via its TravelGov X account and sighted on Saturday, the department said Level 4 advisories are issued where security conditions pose significant risks or where the US government has limited capacity to provide assistance to its citizens.
“We issue Travel Advisories with Levels 1–4. Level 4 means DO NOT TRAVEL. We assign Level 4 based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help Americans there,” the department stated.
“These places are dangerous. Do not go for ANY reason,” it added.
Among the countries on the advisory are 11 African nations: Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
Countries under the US Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory:
- Afghanistan
- Belarus
- Burkina Faso
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Haiti
- Iran
- Iraq
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Mali
- Niger
- North Korea
- Russia
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Yemen
The latest advisory comes months after the State Department retained Nigeria under Level 3: Reconsider Travel, while designating several states as Level 4: Do Not Travel because of security concerns.
The Level 4 designation applies to Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe and northern Adamawa states in the North, as well as Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo and Rivers states—excluding Port Harcourt—in the South.
According to the advisory, Americans should reconsider travel to Nigeria because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest and inconsistent healthcare services, while travel to the designated Level 4 states is strongly discouraged.
Responding to the advisory, the Nigerian government described the US decision as a routine precaution based on its internal assessment procedures, insisting it does not accurately reflect the overall security situation in the country.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said although Nigeria continues to face isolated security challenges, there has been no breakdown of law and order, adding that the country remains stable.
