The Federal Government says the recent terror warnings by the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (U.K) would have long-term negative effects on Nigeria’s economy.
However, the government said it had started verifying the sources of the alerts to nip the alleged threats by terrorists to attack Abuja and other parts of the country in the bud.
Restating that it had beefed up security within Abuja, Nasarawa, and Niger states, the government added that it had commenced verifying the sources of the security alerts.
Information and National Orientation Minister Lai Mohammed said this while defending the ministry’s 2023 budget proposal before the National Assembly Committees on Information and Defence.
His words: “The advisory sent the wrong signal that Abuja was not safe. Many schools did not open on Monday, and some flights, including British Airways, were diverted to Lagos.
“I received several inquiries from our missions abroad as if there was a problem in the country. It was really unfortunate.
“These embassies heightened the situation by evacuating their nationals and sending advisories to stay away from Abuja.
“The long-term economic effects of the advisory will be quite harmful to Nigeria because investors will not come and invest in a country alleged to be unsafe. It was really sad.”
