Terrorism: US declare Nigerians security risk

Air travellers from Nigeria, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and nine other countries will face full-body search before boarding airliners under new security screening procedures, targeting foreign passengers announced by the United States on Sunday.

The procedures, which go into effect on Monday, follow the botched Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound US airliner attributed to

a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who US officials believe was trained by al Qaeda in Yemen.

“Passengers travelling from or through nations listed as ”state sponsors of terrorism” –Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria -- as well as

Nigeria Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen will face heightened screening, an Obama administration

official told Reuters.

“Such passengers will be patted down, have their carry-on luggage searched and could undergo advanced explosive detection or imaging scans,” the

official, who spoke on condition on anonymity added.

The Transportation Security Administration, the US agency responsible for air security measures, announced the ”enhanced screening”

procedures, adding that any passengers on US.-bound flights could be subjected to random security searches.