Somali Magazine – Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has said that two people were killed when an explosion rocked its embassy in Abuja-Nigeria.
This comes as an investigation into the Monday explosion is underway to confirm whether it was a terror attack.
Washington DC, London, and Ottawa have both issued a warning against nonessential travel to the West African nation.
Joly wrote on X “We can confirm there was an explosion at our High Commission in Nigeria. The fire is out and we are working to shed light on what caused this situation. I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of the two people killed in this tragedy.”
The spokesperson of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s said there were deaths and injuries in a fire on Monday at the High Commission of Canada but did not give any figures.
“President Tinubu prays for the repose of the departed souls and wishes all injured persons a rapid and full recovery,” the statement said.
Canada’s High Commission in Nigeria, without commenting on the explosion, said on social media it had “temporarily suspended operations until further notice”.
The embassy issued a travel advisory, warning against non-essential travel to Nigeria, including the capital Abuja, “due to the unpredictable security situation throughout the country and the significant risk of terrorism, crime, inter-communal clashes, armed attacks, and kidnappings”.
Currently, the Nigerian head of state is preoccupied with fixing the economy and has yet to outline how he plans to tackle widespread insecurity across the country, including a long-running insurgency in the northeast and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest.
Last week both US and Britain said there was an “elevated threat to major hotels in Nigeria’s larger cities” and warned against traveling to Africa’s most populous nation.
Western countries routinely issue warnings about traveling to Nigeria, which the Abuja government often dismisses as lacking merit.