Nigeria: Freedom of Religion or Belief

Carla Lockhart Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[David Smith]

I will make a little progress, as I want to ensure that the Minister has time to respond.

The Government are doing some great things that I get to see and making a great deal of progress. We will hear from the Minister, but in my estimation the Government are supporting security work in Nigeria, working closely with the Nigerian Government, including on the SPRiNG—Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria—programme, which I hope we will hear more about, and building a sense of communal interfaith relationship and peace building—something I did in the past in a different context. That is really important, and I would love to hear more from the Minister about what that could look like if we grow it more.

[Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

Let me just remind the House of Matthew 5:10:

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

We must all bear that in our minds tonight. The question I would ask is this: how many more burned churches and murdered worshippers do we have to see before concrete action is taken? The hon. Member is doing an amazing job in this area—well done on that—but we need more concrete action. UK aid should be conditional on demonstrable action to protect religious freedom—surely that is a question for the Minister tonight.

[David Smith]

Again, I agree that we should have holistic relationships with all our partners; there should not be a hierarchy of importance when it comes to an economic trade deal versus pursuing our values as a country on things like freedoms. I am sure we will hear more from the Minister on that.

I mentioned what is happening on law and politics. In a way, that is almost a more worrying issue, because it creates a context in which it becomes acceptable to persecute. As long as ethno-religious fiefdoms are maintained, contrary to the promises of the Nigerian constitution, widespread reconciliation may be out of reach. The Government are clear in their opposition to the spread of blasphemy and apostasy laws, and I support that. In our complex and committed relationship with Nigeria, Britain has a range of tools at our disposal to support change in the direction of freedom of religion or belief, and I look forward to hearing from the Minister about the excellent work that the Government are doing, to which I remain committed.