By Akanimo Sampson
US President Donald Trump has finally unleashed a missile attack on Nigeria by slapping immigration restrictions its citizens including six other countries, in addition to the list of nations already targeted by his controversial travel ban.
The US embassy in Nigeria had announced that it was no longer accepting visa renewal applications via international courier service DHL.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the embassy said Nigerians seeking to get US non-immigrant visas must apply online.
They “will be required to appear in-person at the US Embassy in Abuja or US Consulate General in Lagos to submit their application for review”.
The decision had been taken to “to provide more efficient customer service and promote legitimate travel”, the statement said.
However, Nigerians who have already given their passports for visa renewal via “Dropbox” to DHL will not be affected, it added.
Besides Africa’s most populous country, the new measures also pertain to Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, administration officials said.
“The president’s decision is the product of a comprehensive and systematic assessment that was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as in partnership with other federal agencies”, said one of the officials.
The official added that the decision was the “result of these countries’ unwillingness or inability to adhere to certain baseline identity management, information sharing and national security and public safety assessment criteria that were established by the department in 2017.”
