The United States Embassy in Nigeria has announced its decision to shut down operations indefinitely.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the embassy blamed the development on the government shutdown in the US.
“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. Sorry for any inconvenience to our valued patrons,” the statement read.
The implication would mean that thousands of Nigerians will miss their visa appointments following the incident.
Also, persons who have applied for tourist, study, business visas, immigrant visas or any other travel document will have to cancel their plans.
The embassy charges N57, 600 in visa fees which is non-refundable. However, it was not clear whether any concessions would be made to applicants since the development was no fault of theirs.
President Donald Trump and the legislative arm have been at loggerheads for nearly two months over his decision to build a wall along the Mexican border.
Building a wall was one of Trump’s major campaign promises as part of efforts to curb illegal migration and crime.
He had boasted during his campaign that the Mexican government would pay for the wall.
But the Democrat members in Congress have, however, rejected Trump’s proposal.
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