United States president, Donald Trump, is considering imposing travel ban on Nigerians and citizens of other 35 countries.
This would be a significant expansion of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration early this month.
The list of countries was contained in a State Department memo. In total, there are 25 African nations facing visa bans and similar restrictions.
The memo, which was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, revealed that the governments of listed countries have a 60-day ultimatum, to meet new benchmarks and requirements established by the State Department or face visa restrictions or outright visa ban.
It set a deadline of 8am on Wednesday for them to provide an initial action plan for meeting the newly established requirements by the US State Department.
The memo noted that some countries had “no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,” or they suffered from “widespread government fraud.” While others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the US.
The countries facing scrutiny in the memo include: Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzania; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
