Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the number of British citizens that have been kidnapped in Nigeria in each of the last five years.

We are aware of low numbers of British nationals kidnapped in Nigeria over the past five years. It is difficult to provide a definitive figure because of differing recording practices across agencies and because not all kidnaps are reported to the Nigerian authorities or to the FCDO. Through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership, we are providing mentoring and capacity-building support to Nigerian Police Force units to improve their anti-kidnap capacity, help reduce harm to victims, and hold those responsible to account.