Ghana has disowned issuing a travel advisory to its citizens warning them to avoid visiting Abuja, the capital of Nigeria on the basis of terror alerts
According to the Ghanaian authorities, the notice was not authorized by the Ghanaian government.
A notice had been circulated since Wednesday evening bearing the name and logo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
It stated that Nigeria asked some hotels to close, citing “the directive by local authorities to hotels operating in residential buildings to shut down”.
The ministry allegedly claimed in the notice that there was a “high danger of terrorism, criminality, inter-communal conflict, armed attacks, and kidnappings”.
In a statement released on Thursday morning, the Ghanaian government distanced itself from it, stating it never came from them.
The statement reads in part, “The Ministry is not aware of any threats targeted at Ghanaians who continue to live in harmony with their Nigerian brothers and sisters.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration regrets any inconvenience this may have caused to the travelling public.”
The now-debunked warning was in line with similar advisories by the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and others, since October.
The Nigerian government had since called for calm, assuring all residents that security agencies were on top of the matter.
Meanwhile, United Kingdom has updated its travel advisory in Nigeria, stating that it no longer advises against all but essential travel to Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) gave the update in the travel advisory posted on its website on Monday, November 7.