United States President Donald Trump has recalled Richard Mills, the US ambassador to Nigeria, as part of a sweeping diplomatic shake-up affecting more than two dozen American missions worldwide, with Africa emerging as the most impacted continent.
Nigeria is among 15 African countries whose envoys have been recalled.
Others affected on the continent include Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Uganda.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the shake-up affected Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam, while Armenia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovakia were impacted in Europe. Guatemala and Suriname were affected in the western hemisphere.
State Department officials told The Guardian UK that the affected chiefs of mission were informed last week that their tenures would end in January.
Although the diplomats had initially survived an early purge during the first months of Trump’s second term — largely aimed at political appointees — the situation changed on Wednesday when notices of their imminent departures were issued from Washington, DC.
