Nigeria’s government said it had created a committee to address the issues that prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to add the country to the ban while Eritrea denounced the U.S. ban on immigrant visas for its citizens describing it as “unacceptable”.
Nigeria and Eritrea were among six countries, four of them in Africa, added to an expanded version of the U.S. visa ban announced on Friday in a presidential proclamation by Donald J. Trump.
U.S. officials said the countries failed to meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards, which necessitated the new restrictions.
“Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and other international allies especially on matters of global security,” a Nigerian presidential statement said.
Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, is the biggest country on the list whose citizens will be suspended from U.S. visas that can lead to permanent residency. Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar will also be affected by the ban.
Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed said the government saw the ban as a political move that would hurt the country’s relations with the United States.
“We find this move unacceptable,” he told Reuters by telephone. “We will, however, not expel the U.S. ambassador,” he added.
Nigeria’s information minister told Reuters they had no warning of their inclusion on the list before it appeared in the media.
The U.S. government also said it will stop issuing “diversity visas” to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania.
The visas, which Trump has criticized, are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration.
