The United States has announced a major visa shake-up across Africa, with routine visa services at its embassy in Abuja and 24 other diplomatic posts set to be discontinued effective August 1, 2026.

The US Department of State said that the realignment to regional hubs was part of efforts aimed at strengthening national security, cutting government waste, and ensuring more uniform screening, vetting, and adjudication standards.

According to a statement released by the State Department, President Trump’s administration is putting America and Americans first by realigning overseas operations to advance US priorities efficiently and effectively.

Other diplomatic posts affected by the routine visa realignment include Asmara, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Conakry, Cotonou, Durban, Freetown, Gaborone, Harare, Juba, Libreville, and Lilongwe.

The rest are Lusaka, Maputo, Maseru, Mbabane, N’Djamena, Niamey, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou, and Windhoek.

The State Department stressed that the realignment does not change the operating status of any of the embassies and consulates or the important work they continue to conduct on behalf of the American people.It also clarified that the policy does not affect any currently valid US visas.

It explained that the immigrant visa categories being realigned include immediate relative, IR; family preference, FP; employment-based, EB; fiancée/fiancé, K visas; adoptions; diversity visas; and follow-to-join asylee and refugee, V92/V93, cases.

However, routine visa services, according to the State Department, will continue at US embassies and consulates in Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar-Es-Salaam, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lome, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia, and Yaoundé.

The services to be provided at the hub locations include all routine nonimmigrant visas – tourist, business, and petition-based – as well as immigrant visas.

• The suspects

Four arrested suspects linked to the killing of Ibrahim Mabaya, a Political Science Student of University of Jos, have narrated how they killed their fellow student over alleged phone theft.

The suspects made the revelations while being paraded at the State Police command.

Emmanuel Newyear, a 30-year-old, admitted that he participated in the torture of the deceased.

“On the 26 of this month, my cousin came to my place informing that his phone was missing. He said they have called the deceased and had come to the apartment.

“When we interrogated him, he told us the phone was at the Naraguta hostel beside a tree but we checked and we didn’t see it. He later told us that the phone was at Rayfield and we went there but din’t see it. We all returned to the hostel. People had already gathered at the compound.

“I first slapped him inside the room and later brought him outside. I was the one that hit him with plank three times. I beat him because I want him to tell me where the phone is. I know him through my cousin brother,” Newyear explained.

Teslor Joshua, another suspect, admitted that he participated in the torture of the deceased, noting that he participated in holding his hand, when they were tying him with rope.

Rinji Daniel, the owner of the phone, also gave an account of the incident.

Daniel said, “We came back from an event on that day and Ibee said he would pass the night in my room. He later said he wanted to go outside to answer a call. He did not come back on time and my brother and I later slept while my phone and my brother’s power bank were charging. I woke up around 4 a.m. and didn’t see the deceased. Only two of us were on the bed. I expected three of us because he only told me he was going to answer a call outside.

“I checked for my phone and discovered it was not there and the power bank was missing too. I checked outside and didn’t see him. I called his number and he was not picking. I tried my phone but it was switched off. I used another person’s phone to call his number, he then picked the call and cut it again. I then reported the case to my cousin. That is where the whole thing started.”

Ibrahim Mbaya, the graduate of the University of Jos, who was beaten to death by a mob in Jos, Plateau State, will be buried tomorrow (Thursday).

His younger brother, James Mbaya, disclosed this in a statement saying preparations were being made to lay the 25-year-old to rest.

According to him, Ibrahim will be buried in his hometown in Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State.

“We are making arrangements for his corpse to be brought home. He will be buried on Thursday,” James said.

“His (Ibrahim) death has really devastated us, especially our parents. I don’t think they are ever going to recover from the shock of his death because he was the first child and the first male child of the family. We had great expectations from him,” said James.

The family called on the police to ensure that everyone involved in the killing is brought to justice.