Nigeria: Freedom of Religion or Belief

Lizzi Collinge Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[David Smith]

As I said in answer to the previous intervention, I do agree that it is very important for us not to have segmented or siloed relationships with other countries; we need to treat our relationships holistically. I look forward to the Minister’s response, because I know the Government are doing a lot—they regularly raise cases of freedom of religion or belief with counterparts in foreign Governments. My view is that we need to have a holistic relationship with other countries, and that includes freedom of religion or belief.

Let me quickly move to the issue of legal suppression of freedoms. Freedom House reports that in Nigeria,

“State and local governments have been known to endorse de facto official religions in their territory, placing limits on other religious activity.”

So-called apostasy and blasphemy laws have spread into Nigeria’s social and legal landscape, often led by regional or local Governments. Twelve northern states have enacted the sharia penal code, which Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports is effectively creating a “state religion”, in violation of Nigeria’s constitution.

[Lizzi Collinge (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing attention to the persecution of people of different faiths and beliefs, and particularly the heinous murders of thousands of people. He knows about the case of Mubarak Bala, who was jailed for a Facebook post that was deemed to be blasphemous. After he left Islam, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital, forced to leave his home and state and arrested. He calls on the UK and western Governments to repeal their own blasphemy laws. He has explained that when he was arrested, he was told, “Even the British have blasphemy laws.” Today, blasphemy and blasphemous libel is a criminal offence under common law in Northern Ireland. It is not used in Northern Ireland; it is a dead letter law. However, other countries that do use their blasphemy laws in extreme ways often point to these dead letter laws in other countries to justify their own behaviour. Does my hon. Friend agree that no country should have blasphemy laws, whether directly or by the back door?

[David Smith]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I have been very pleased to meet Mubarak Bala twice now, most recently in person in Warsaw. He is a great credit to himself. He has suffered very unjustly as a result of being a humanist. I am sure we will hear this from the Minister, but the Government seem to be very clear that we should not be supporting blasphemy laws, and we do see people suffering as a result of them.

In the interests of time, I will move on and maybe not take any interventions for a moment.

Why does this matter to us? We are 3,000 miles away from Nigeria, but we are linked by history, culture and language, and we are linked by friendship. Nigeria and the United Kingdom have a very strong relationship. It would be easy to dismiss Nigeria’s problem as something “over there” and think that persecution of religion or belief abroad is not our problem, but that position would be irresponsible, immoral and ultimately untenable.

It is immoral because when we see other humans in need, we want to respond, as humans. How could we turn away from the suffering in Nigeria when we see families ripped apart, innocent people killed and power brokers restricting the agency, liberty and conscience of others? We in the UK have a rich history of experiencing and rejecting religious intolerance that we can share in humility, hopefully, with others. We had civil wars and riots. Those riots became debates, debates became freedoms, and those freedoms led to flourishing. The hallmark of freedom is wanting freedom for others.

That brings me to irresponsibility. It would be irresponsible to assume that Nigeria’s problems are not our own. Nigeria is playing an increasingly influential role globally. It is young, resource-rich and growing. The UN has projected that Nigeria will become the third most populous country on Earth by 2050, and as I have said, the UK is home to a substantial and growing community of Nigerian-born residents. They are a hard-working, law-abiding, enterprising part of our nation, and we are privileged to have them with us. Working well with Nigeria is in our interest for the sake of all.

Nigeria also represents a genuine democracy in a region where military Governments are common and civil society precarious. As climate change disrupts the Sahel and central Africa further, the promise of a resilient Nigeria with a strong sense of its future as a pluralist democracy cannot be understated.