Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has met (a) his Nigerian counterpart and (b) the Nigerian High Commissioner to discuss killings of Christians in central and northern Nigeria.

Rising insecurity in Nigeria has affected all faith and non-faith communities, including Christians. The root causes of this insecurity are often complex. UK Government officials and I regularly raise freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), including the impact of insecurity on communities across central and northern Nigeria, underlying the need to bring perpetrators to justice, with the Nigerian Government. Most recently, the British High Commissioner has raised the attacks in Plateau state over Christmas with the National Security Advisor. In February 2024 we discussed strengthening UK support to tackle insecurity in Nigeria. The former Foreign Secretary also raised this issue with President Tinubu and the National Security Adviser during his visit in August 2023.