Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent reports of (1) fighting in Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state between members of the al Qaeda affiliate Ansaru and other armed factions, and (2) the prevalence in central Nigeria of diverse armed non-state actors espousing religious extremism.

The Government is concerned by increasing insecurity in Nigeria. We continue to follow developments closely. We are aware of reports of fighting in Kaduna State between Ansaru and other armed factions. In central Nigeria, we remain concerned about rising levels of violence, and the involvement of armed groups in a high number of incidents. While Islamic extremism is a driver of the conflict involving terrorist groups in the North East of Nigeria, it remains our assessment that the causes of conflict in central Nigeria are more complex, and frequently relate to competition over resources and criminality.