Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help promote freedom of religious belief for (a) Christians and (b) other religious minorities in Nigeria.

The UK continues to champion Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all in Nigeria, and beyond. No one should live in fear because of what they do, or do not believe in. We work to uphold the right to FoRB through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and bilaterally in Nigeria. The UK Government remains committed to supporting Nigeria to address ongoing security challenges, including violent extremism and intercommunal violence, which continue to impinge on the rights of Nigerians to FoRB. In June, we delivered a speech at the UNSC to promote FoRB and highlight our work to tackle intercommunal violence in Nigeria. At the latest UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership dialogue in February 2024, we reaffirmed our commitment to working with Nigeria to respond to the shared threat of terrorism.