How Strange 'Visa With White Powder' Led To Shutdown Of US Embassy's Abuja Consular Section

The US Embassy close down its consular tasks in Abuja since it got a Nigerian international ID that oddly contained a surprising measure of white powder, SaharaReporters can legitimately report. 

The international safe haven reported the shutdown in an announcement on its site on Tuesday — multi day after one of its staff opened an identification for preparing and found a sizeable bit of powder in it. The improvement started colossal worries about the potential harm to the staff part who opened the substance, and to other people who may have been presented to the substance. 

An exceedingly put conciliatory source who affirmed the story to SaharaReporters said the consulate close down the area to test the powder and to isolate staff of the segment. 

The staff of the segment were not permitted to leave work with their contraptions on that day, SaharaReporters gets it. 

Endeavors to affirm the report from staff of the government office demonstrated fruitless, as two staff reached by SaharaReporters both declined to remark, saying the sum total of what staff had been eagerly cautioned not to absolute a word on it. Indeed, even the Public Relations Department of the international safe haven would make no remark on it too, we were told. 

"This is such an unusual event," the source said. "On the off chance that I wasn't taught, I would question this at any point happened. What on earth would you sprinkle control within pages of your visa. Nigeria as of now has a high US visa dismissal rate; I speculate it is going to deteriorate." 

In 2017, in excess of 130,000 Nigerians, speaking to 44 for each penny of the aggregate number of uses, were denied visa. 

SaharaReporters was told the isolating time frame will be over soon and the consular area will be revived at some point one week from now, "likely whenever from Tuesday August 21". 

IN the announcement declaring the transitory shutdown, the international safe haven had said "American residents in northern Nigeria with critical travel needs who are going before Tuesday and who are eager to re-plan their movement through Lagos should contact the ACS office at Consulate Lagos ( 01460 3400 and LagosACS@state.gov) to talk about their choices". 

This, as per the source, "is one indication that Tuesday is the objective for resumption of activities". 

SaharaReporters avoided formally reaching the consulate for an official response, for fear it would offer the government office a remote possibility of finding the source, seeing one of the staff who declined to talk had stated: "The international safe haven is greatly resolved to hold this under wraps; on the off chance that I converse with you, I am 90% certain I would be discovered and that implies I lose my activity." 

The US is a standout amongst the most pined for nations by Nigerians. As per the U.S. Division of State, in excess of 163,000 worker and non-migrant visas were issued to Nigerians between March 2017 and January 2018.