Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterparts in Nigeria on the case of Mubarak Bala.

We condemn all violence across Nigeria, including the recent kidnapping in Kaduna state and the murder of Fr. Isaac Achi in Niger state. Events such as these are occurring across Nigeria as conflict and insecurity rises. The Minister of State for Africa & Development recently discussed this challenge with some of Nigeria's leading presidential candidates, and with the Governor of Kaduna. The UK continues to support Nigeria to tackle this issue, and fulfil its constitutional commitment to Freedom of Religion or Belief, by strengthening military capabilities, human rights compliance, policing, and anti-kidnap capacity through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.

The UK Government continues to raise Mr Bala's case with the Nigerian authorities, most recently with the Kano State Government on 19 January.