{"id":252970,"date":"2026-03-07T10:16:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T10:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/?p=252970"},"modified":"2026-03-08T17:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:38:52","slug":"gulf-crisis-nigeria-reaffirms-diplomatic-engagement-moves-to-protect-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/gulf-crisis-nigeria-reaffirms-diplomatic-engagement-moves-to-protect-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf Crisis: Nigeria Reaffirms Diplomatic Engagement, Moves To Protect Citizens."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to diplomacy and the protection of its citizens abroad, following rising tensions in the Gulf region linked to the confrontation involving the United States, Israel and Iran.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">The spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of Crisis Monitoring and Public Communications Division, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, disclosed this while speaking on Politics Today, a Kapital FM current affairs programme.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">Ebienfa said Nigeria\u2019s diplomatic response was prompted by the rapid escalation of hostilities in the Gulf and the potential spillover effects across the region.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">According to him, the Nigerian government has activated diplomatic channels and consular alert mechanisms to ensure the safety of Nigerians living in the affected areas.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cOur foreign policy is anchored on dialogue, peaceful resolution of conflicts and respect for international law,\u201d Ebienfa said. \u201cNigeria has consistently urged all parties involved in the crisis to exercise restraint and pursue diplomatic engagement in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">He explained that Nigerian embassies across the region, including those in Tehran, Tel Aviv, Qatar, Beirut, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have been placed on high alert to closely monitor developments and provide support to Nigerian nationals where necessary.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">On the safety of Nigerians in the Gulf region, Ebienfa noted that thousands of Nigerians work across various sectors including construction, healthcare, aviation, oil and gas, and domestic services.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cWhile the situation remains under close watch, there have been no confirmed reports of Nigerians directly affected by the tensions so far,\u201d he stated.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">He added that Nigeria relies on a combination of diplomatic intelligence, host country advisories and international monitoring systems to anticipate potential threats to its citizens abroad.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Ministry\u2019s Spokesperson stated that an Inter-Ministerial meeting was hosted on Friday with relevant stakeholders to agree on a reliable evacuation plan.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to diplomacy and the protection of its citizens abroad, following &hellip; <a title=\"Gulf Crisis: Nigeria Reaffirms Diplomatic Engagement, Moves To Protect Citizens.\" class=\"hm-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/gulf-crisis-nigeria-reaffirms-diplomatic-engagement-moves-to-protect-citizens\/\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Gulf Crisis: Nigeria Reaffirms Diplomatic Engagement, Moves To Protect Citizens.<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mfa-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252972,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252970\/revisions\/252972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}