U.S. State Department Updates Travel Warning for Nigeria: Key Areas to Avoid

The United States has been busy with travel warnings this month as summer draws closer and more citizens look to take trips overseas.

The U.S. Department of State is responsible for all travel warnings, which range in severity from Level 1 –"Exercise normal precautions"–to Level 4–"Do Not Travel." A Level 3 warning--"Reconsider Travel"--is the second-most urgent alert the department can implement.

Nigeria has been under a Level 3 warning for a while now. On Friday, the State Department updated its official travel advisory for the West African nation, which includes several areas Americans are asked to avoid under all circumstances.

What does a Level 3 travel advisory mean?

U.S. citizens should "reconsider" venturing to countries under Level 3 advisory "due to serious risks to safety and security."

"A Travel Advisory is a report from the U.S. Department of State that describes the risks and recommended precautions for U.S. citizens-not foreign nationals-in a foreign destination," reads the official State Department website. "The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad. Information contained in these advisories reflects an assessment of threats only insofar as they may impact U.S. citizens, nationals, and legal residents."

The latest on Nigeria

Overall, Nigeria is under a Level 3 warning, meaning "reconsider travel," due to crime, terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, and inconsistent availability of health care services.

However, certain territories within the country are unsafe for Americans to visit under any condition, according to the U.S. Department of State.

They are:

• Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe, northern Adamawa states due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping
• Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara states due to unrest, crime, and kidnapping
• Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping, and unrest.

The full Nigeria travel advisory is available here.

Meanwhile, you can also access the complete list of foreign countries and their respective travel advisories on the U.S. State Department page here.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 3:47 PM.