ABUJA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria asked the United States on
Thursday to abandon new visa restrictions on the West African
country set to take effect on Feb. 21.
U.S. President Donald Trump included Nigeria and five other
countries in an expanded version of his travel ban list early
this month, sparking outrage from many of them.
U.S. officials have said the six countries failed to meet
U.S. security and information-sharing standards, necessitating
the new restrictions.
Nigeria's interior minister, Ogbeni Aregbesola, made the
request to drop the ban to the U.S. ambassador in Abuja, the
ministry said in a statement.
"Nigeria is too important an ally of America to deserve such
a sanction," Aregbesola said, according to the statement.
"We are positive that (the) visa restriction is a temporary
one, it will soon be put behind us," he said, adding that
Nigeria had complied with most of the concerns raised by the
United States.
The statement did not say how U.S. Ambassador Mary Beth
Leonard responded to the request, but it said she assured
Aregbesola of "her country's determination to continue to
collaborate with Nigeria".
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is the biggest
country on the list whose citizens will be suspended from U.S.
visas that can lead to permanent residency.
The original travel ban, issued in 2017, barred nearly all
immigrants and travellers from seven countries with majority
Muslim populations.
The policy was revised amid court challenges, but the U.S.
Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in 2018.