US and Britain close Nigerian consulates

The US and Britain have temporarily closed their consulates in Lagos citing an unspecified security threat.

In a statement, the US Embassy said its consulate in Lagos was shut down yesterday afternoon “because of a security issue of mutual concern to the US Mission in Nigeria and the government of Nigeria.”

US Embassy officials in the Nigerian capital Abuja would not give any further details, but the statement said the consulate would also remain closed today.

The Foreign Office in London said Britain shut its Deputy High Commission in Lagos following the closure of the nearby US Consulate.

Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden purportedly marked Nigeria for "liberation" in a release posted on the internet last year. The country of about 130 million is roughly evenly split between Christians and Muslims.

Political, ethnic and religious violence has claimed more than 10,000 lives since President Olusegun Obasanjo came to power in 1999 polls, but the country has not experienced any terrorist bombings.