Security Alert Prompts Evacuation At American Consulate

Visitors at the United States Consulate, Victoria Island, Lagos, were compelled to vacate the main building Thursday following a security threat.

The evacuation, which happened at about 12.20 p.m., was the climax of repeated radio warnings that began a few minutes earlier.

Armed and unarmed security operatives immediately took strategic positions within the premises.

Visa applicants and a group of teenagers who had come for an education programme, were among persons ushered out of the building on account of the development.

After about a 40-minute wait at an open space in the premises, Mr. Russell Brooks, the consulate’s public affairs officer, explained to the puzzled evacuees that the order was prompted by the discovery of a parcel containing a white powdery substance.

“We are going to find out what that substance is. They isolated that package and they are attempting to verify what the substance is,” said Brooks.

“For those of you who do not have anything in the building, it is probably best for you to leave because this could be very time-consuming. For those of you who have something still inside, you basically have to stay out in the open here because you cannot go inside now. For those of you who do not have anything inside, feel free to leave.”

The U.S. Embassy in Abuja was temporarily closed down in August last year following a similar incident. In October 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, was similarly evacuated after a suspicious powder was found in a letter.