ATLANTA — Delta has canceled flights to Nigeria at least through tonight, amid unrest in the country following weeks of protests against police brutality and a security response that reportedly left a dozen protesters dead yesterday.
The airline runs a daily route from Atlanta to Lagos, the country's largest city. A Lagos suburb, Lekki, was where gunfire was directed at demonstrators on Wednesday.
"Nigerian government restrictions may impact travel to/from/through the destination(s) listed below," a notice on Delta's website reads, with Lagos the destination listed below.
It lists Oct. 20-22 as the impacted travel dates, and says any ticketholders must rebook their flight no later than Oct. 25.
11Alive has reached out to Delta for more information on if the cancellations could be extended. It offers a daily route from Atlanta to Lagos through a stop in Senegal.
According to international news outlet Al Jazeera, a detention facility in Lagos' upscale Ikoyi neighborhood was stormed on Thursday and soldiers patrolled the streets of the city of about 20 million.
The protests began earlier this month against a special police unit known as SARS - Special Anti-Robbery Squad - that has been criticized for abuses that international observer groups say include kidnappings, torture and killings.
Protesters also gathered Wednesday in Atlanta in support of the Nigerian movement, outside the Consulate of Nigeria in Sandy Springs, with another planned at Centennial Olympic Park.
"Allowing injustice somewhere is going to create space for it to happen again somewhere else," a member of the Advance Nigeria Organization told 11Alive. "It's not acceptable anywhere."