Amid riots, Nigeria issues travel warning on travel to UK

Nigeria has issued a travel warning to citizens planning to visit Britain to be extra vigilant and take measures following racist riots held by the far-right, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.“Avoid political processions and protests, rallies or marches. Avoid crowded areas, large gatherings and be vigilant and self-aware all times,” the advisory said.

The UK has been gripped by far-right riots for days, with violent mobs spewing racist and Islamophobic vitriol and targeting Muslims, minority groups and migrants.

The riots were fuelled by an online misinformation campaign that a suspect arrested after a fatal stabbing in Southport, England, last week was a Muslim asylum seeker, a claim which was false.

Three young girls were killed and five others were critically injured during the knife attack last week.

Although police said the suspect was a 17-year-old born in the Welsh capital Cardiff, far-right groups staged demonstrations in Southport against Muslims and immigrants. After the demonstration, right-wing extremists attacked a mosque in the city and later staged protests across the country, burning a police station in Sunderland on Friday, beating those they deem as “foreigners” and breaking into a hotel in which asylum seekers are housed and setting it on fire.

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