US diplomats in Nigeria on Friday claimed in a travel note to citizens warning of security risks associated with
Sheraton Hotel.
“As of late April, groups associated with
terrorism allegedly planned to mount an unspecified attack against the Sheraton
Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, the US Consulate General in Lagos said in an emailed
advisory.
“There was no further information
regarding which of the two Sheraton Hotels in Lagos was the possible target, or
if both of the Sheraton Hotels are possible targets.
“There is no further information regarding
the timing or method of attack. US citizens are cautioned to avoid these hotels
at this time.”
Four Points Sheraton Hotel In Lagos
The warning comes a day after a car bomb
exploded in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, killing 19 people and wounding scores
more, just yards (metres) from a bus station where a previous bombing on April
14 killed at least 75.
Boko Haram claimed the April 14 attack and
both bombings have raised fears about a possible change in tactics and targets
by the Islamist militants, whose increasingly deadly, five-year insurgency has
largely been confined to the north.
Concern has mounted that the violence
could spread to other parts of the country given the military’s apparent
inability to stem the bloodshed.
A hotel attack by Islamist extremists
would not be unprecedented.
In November 2008, heavily armed gunmen
attacked three luxury hotels, a railway station, Jewish centre and popular
tourist cafe in the Indian city of Mumbai, killing 166 and wounding more than
300.
Sheraton has two hotels in Lagos: the
Sheraton Hotel Lagos in the Ikeja area of the city near the international
airport and the Four Points by Sheraton in Victoria Island.
The latter is situated off the expressway
to Lekki, home to many wealthier Nigerians and expatriates.
The US travel advisory said the security
situation in Nigeria remained “fluid and unpredictable”, warning its citizens
to stay away from all travel to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states which have borne
the brunt of the violence.
All three are in northeast Nigeria and
have been under a state of emergency since May last year.
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