U.S., UK closes Lagos consulates

U.S., UK closes Lagos consulates

NIGERIA: The consular offices and diplomatic services of the
United States and Britain in Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital,
were temporarily shut on Friday for security reasons, British
diplomatic personnel said.

The decision to close the Deputy High Commission -- what
Britain calls its consulates in members of the Commonwealth --
came after the U.S. consulate was shut on Thursday over an
unspecified "security issue", a Foreign Office spokesman in
London said.

The British mission was closed as a direct result of the U.S.
concerns, embassy official Graeme Bannatyne said, but he added
that other services were operating as usual and the political
office and consulate in the Nigerian capital Abuja were open.

The Nigerian foreign ministry said the "government is actively
seized with efforts to investigate and address the situation, in
collaboration with the United States authorities".

The U.S. consulate is on Walter Carrington Crescent on
Victoria Island, a residential district on the edge of the Lagos
lagoon. An official at the Russian embassy, in the same district,
said no special measures had been taken, adding he did not know
why the Americans had shut down.

Staff at the Indian Embassy, next door to the U.S. one, and
German and Italian consulates in the same area said they were
working normally. -- AFP