Key Points

• Nigeria reports no distress calls from citizens in Iran.
• Iran strikes Saudi and Qatari energy sites, spiking global oil prices.
• Hezbollah, Iraqi militias enter the fight, widening the war.

Nigeria’s government said Monday it had received no distress calls from citizens in Iran as a widening Middle East conflict drew in new combatants, disrupted global energy supplies and pushed the price of Nigerian crude to its highest level in nearly eight months.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission said no Nigerian in Iran had formally requested evacuation assistance, though officials acknowledged they could not account for how many citizens were in the country.

“I’m not saying there are no Nigerians there,” commission spokesman Abdur-Rahman Balogun said. “I’m only saying nobody has sent any distress call.”

Balogun said any evacuation would require Nigerians to formally request help and agree to return home, noting the government could charter aircraft if needed. He added that flight cancellations across the region made immediate action impossible regardless.

“You cannot fly where bombs are going up and down,” he said. “No airline will fly.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was monitoring the situation and considering evacuation options once conditions allowed.

Conflict widens

The war expanded sharply Monday. Lebanon-based Hezbollah targeted a British air base in Cyprus, Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people in Lebanon and wounded 149 more, and Iran launched drone attacks on major energy facilities in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, halting operations at both sites.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry confirmed a fire at its Ras Tanura refinery — one of the largest in the Middle East, with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day — after two drones were intercepted nearby. QatarEnergy suspended liquefied natural gas production at facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed following separate Iranian drone strikes.

Several U.S. warplanes were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, though all crew members survived, according to reports. A pro-Iran militia in Iraq claimed a drone attack on U.S. troops at Baghdad’s airport.

Iranian authorities said more than 200 people had died since fighting began. Inside Israel, missile strikes hit Jerusalem and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, killing nine people and wounding 28. Israeli officials put the national death toll at 11.

President Donald Trump said U.S. and Israeli military operations would continue “in full force” until all objectives were achieved, warning that more casualties were likely. He estimated the conflict would last roughly four weeks.

“Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said.

Iran’s security chief rejected Trump’s claim that Tehran had sought negotiations, saying the country was not willing to talk.

Oil prices surge

Nigeria felt the economic jolt almost immediately. Bonny Light crude climbed to $80 per barrel Monday, up from $70 on Sunday — its highest price since July 2025 — putting it $15.15 above Nigeria’s 2026 budget benchmark of $64.85 per barrel.

Brent crude rose to $79.08 per barrel from $72.87, while West Texas Intermediate jumped to $72.24 from $62.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles between 20 and 30 percent of globally traded crude oil, slowed sharply.

More than 200 vessels, including roughly 150 oil and gas tankers, were anchored outside the strait. Global carriers including Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd suspended transits through the corridor.

Several ships began rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope, adding days and significant cost to already strained supply chains.

OPEC+ announced a production increase of 206,000 barrels per day set to take effect in April, following a virtual meeting Sunday among eight member nations.

Protests in Lagos

On the streets of Lagos, members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria marched through the Maryland neighborhood Monday, chanting anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans and calling for global condemnation of what they described as foreign interference in sovereign nations. Police were deployed to the area to maintain order.

The group had also demonstrated Sunday in Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna and several other northern states following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His wife, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, 79, died Monday of injuries sustained in the same strike.

Poland’s ambassador to Nigeria, Michal Cygan, said Monday he supported Nigeria’s call for restraint, telling a forum at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs that large-scale confrontations demanded caution from Europe, Africa and their allies alike.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom issued a joint warning to Iran, saying they were prepared to take “necessary and proportionate defensive action” to neutralize Iran’s missile and drone capabilities if attacks continued.

The World Health Organization called for the protection of civilians and medical facilities as humanitarian conditions deteriorated across the region.