YENAGOA, Nigeria, April 27 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Rivers
state will ban people crossing its borders at night due to
heightened insecurity, its governor said on Tuesday, as violence
and lawlessness surge across the West African country.
Rivers lies in Nigeria's oil-producing heartland, the Niger
Delta, where past unrest has crippled crude production as
militants destroyed and raided facilities, sending Africa's
largest economy into a tailspin.
The ban on people entering or leaving Rivers between 8:00
p.m. and 6:00 a.m. will take effect from April 28 until further
notice, Governor Nyesom Wike said in a statement.
Wike cited the killings of police, customs and civil defence
officers on Saturday and of army soldiers on Sunday to justify
the curfew.
"The attackers and their sponsors are people who came from
outside Rivers state, and as a government we are determined to
do everything within our powers to prevent the recurrence of
such senseless and murderous acts," he said.
Insecurity has mounted across Nigeria. In the northwest,
gunmen have kidnapped more than 700 school children since
December, part of a broader breakdown of law and order that has
seen militants looting and pillaging communities in the region.
In the northeast, the armed forces are still struggling in a
12-year war with Boko Haram and Islamic State's West Africa
branch. On Sunday, more than 30 soldiers died in one militant
attack, soldiers and a resident said. Earlier on Wednesday, the United States consulate in Lagos
warned of increased crime in the city.