US Shuts Embassies In Nigeria
The United States Mission in Nigeria has announced that its Embassy in Abuja and Consulate General in Lagos will be temporarily closed on June 19, 2026, in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day in the United States.
The mission disclosed the development in a notice shared on its official social media platform on Thursday, stating that normal diplomatic and consular activities would resume after the holiday.
The closure will affect routine services, including visa appointments, passport-related requests and other non-emergency consular operations scheduled for the day.
Juneteenth is celebrated every year on June 19 to mark the end of slavery in the United States.
The date recalls the events of June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by former U.S. President .
The observance became a federal holiday in 2021 after former U.S. President signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
Since then, U.S. government institutions, including embassies and consulates in different countries, have marked the occasion as an official public holiday.
