Mr Mohammed said he was not issuing a travel advisory but merely giving a piece of advice to Nigerians who may be visiting these countries.

The Nigerian government on Monday issued a travel advisory to its citizens visiting the US and European countries.

Delivering his opening remarks at the ongoing Buhari administration score card series, Nigeria's Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, advised travelling Nigerians to take precautions when in the countries as reported cases of theft were on the rise there.

Mr Mohammed said he was not issuing a travel advisory but merely giving a piece of advice to Nigerians who may be visiting these countries.

"It has come to the attention of the government that Nigerian travellers to the United States and some countries in Europe are having their belongings, especially money and international passports, stolen at an increasingly high rate," he said.

According to the information minister, recent victims of these thefts are travellers to the UK, most of whom were dispossessed of their belongings at high brow shops, particularly in the high street of Oxford.

"We have therefore decided to advise Nigerians travelling to Europe and the United States to take extra precaution to avoid being dispossessed of their belongings," he added.

The US and UK had in October issued security alerts warning of a heightened risk of terrorist attack in Abuja, Nigerian's capital.

The alert resulted in panic which saw the temporary shutdown of a shopping mall amongst others.

The US also authorised the evacuation of some of its citizens who were willing to leave Nigeria.

The Nigerian government criticized the travel advisory then, saying there was no basis for it.