Nigeria on ‘red alert’ over Middle East turmoil

Nigerian police have been placed on ‘red alert’ over the killing of Iranian military commander Qassim Soleimani on the orders of US President Donald Trump. The privately-owned Punch newspaper suggests that the Nigerian order comes amid fears that a pro-Iranian Shia group might stage protests. BBC News reports that analyst Phillip Smyth said Iran might decide to hit the US in Africa. ‘If Iran ever needed to return to the old school forms of international terrorism, it's highly likely that they would look for low hanging fruit, where there are softer, easier targets,’ he said.