This will frustrate thousands of Nigerians whose visa appointments will have to be cancelled or rescheduled.
Donald Trump’s partial shutdown of the United States government has
forced American Centers in Nigeria to suspend operations indefinitely
The United States embassy in Abuja and its consulate in Lagos
have suspended operations indefinitely due to its government shutdown.
President Donald Trump
had forced a partial government shutdown over his inability to get the
Democrats in the legislature to fund the erection of a $5 billion
US-Mexico border wall, a campaign promise. The shutdown began on
December 22, 2018.
In a statement released by the embassy in
Nigeria on Monday, December 31, it announced that the centers will
remain closed until the shutdown is resolved.
“Due
to the current U.S. government shutdown, the American Centers located
in the Embassy, Abuja and Consulate General, Lagos are unfortunately
closed. They will re-open once the U.S. government shutdown is
resolved,” the statement read.
The shutdown is expected to frustrate
thousands of Nigerians who can’t book visa appointments or whose
already-scheduled appointments will have to be cancelled or rescheduled.
“Sorry for any inconvenience to our valued patrons,” the embassy apologised in its statement.
Despite Trump’s public defiance to not budge
on the shutdown unless the funding for the border wall is provided,
House Democrats are believed to be putting forward a legislation to fund
the government without funding the Republican president’s controversial
wall.
This is expected to happen when Democrats take over the House on Thursday, January 3, 2019.