Nigeria issues UK travel alert

Nigeria is among several countries that have warned their citizens about travelling to the UK amid a spate of anti-immigrant riots. CNN reports that the UK’s worst social unrest in years was sparked by the stabbing deaths of three young girls in Stockport last week. Since then, anti-Muslim and anti-immigration extremists have been mobilised by a wave of disinformation about the killings, including false claims the attacker was an immigrant. Rioters attacked hotels used to house asylum seekers in two cities at the weekend, and clashed with police in several others, leading to hundreds of arrests. Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel alert warning its citizens planning to visit the UK that ‘demonstrations by far right and other extra-parliamentary groups in parts of the UK in recent weeks have been large and in some instances unruly’ and that ‘there is an increased risk of violence and disorder.’ The alert advises Nigerian citizens to be ‘extra vigilant’ and ‘self-aware at all times’ and to avoid crowded areas, large gatherings and political processions and rallies. Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs, Korir Sing’Oei, posted on X: ‘A deeply worrying situation in the UK. Kenyans are urged to exercise caution.’ Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the first nation to react to the UK disorder, issuing ‘an urgent notice to Malaysians in the United Kingdom’ on X on Sunday.

Full CNN report

SA's opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)  condemned ‘anti-immigrant’ protests that continue to spread in the UK. The Citizen reports that the violent anti-immigrant protests were sparked by the murder of three girls in a knife attack incident in Southport. EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said the protests were racist and prejudicial to non-white citizens of the UK. ‘Despite police clarifying that the suspect was born in Britain and media reports stating his family is Christian, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups continue to spread misinformation, falsely claiming the attacker was an immigrant and a radical Islamist. This disinformation fuelled violent protests in cities like Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester, as well as online agitators spreading hateful and xenophobic rhetoric,’ said the EFF. She said ‘these far-right protesters are a disgraceful display of hatred and ignorance that have no place in any society’. Mathys flagged Britain’s ‘sordid history of racism rooted in its brutal colonial past’. 'A nation that has looted, kille, and subjugated entire populations across the world has no moral standing to be so rabidly anti-immigration,’ Mathys said. She added that the UK’s foreign policies have sown chaos and displacement, contributing directly to the migrant crisis: ‘Their imperialist actions have destabilised nations, forcing countless individuals to flee their homelands in search of safety and a better life.'

Full report in The Citizen