Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to provide support to his Nigerian counterpart to tackle the security situation in Nigeria; and whether that support has been (a) accepted or (b) rejected.

The UK remains committed to working with the Government of Nigeria to help tackle insecurity and address the underlying causes of the instability. This includes supporting Nigeria and its neighbours in the fight against Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa. We currently provide a comprehensive package of support to Nigeria, which includes humanitarian and development support, to help tackle this threat. The UK also conducts training and capacity building, including on Human Rights compliance, for Nigerian armed forces deploying to the North East. We regularly express our concern about the increasing levels of violence with the Nigerian Government. Most recently the Prime Minister raised this with President Buhari during the UK-Africa Investment Summit in January, and the President expressed his gratitude for UK support.