Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made representations to the Government of Nigeria regarding those abducted from train AK9 on 28 March 2022, some of whom have relatives in the UK.

I expressed my public condemnation following the tragic Abuja-Kaduna train attack, and expressed my condolences to Foreign Minister Onyeama.

Officials from the British High Commission in Nigeria have raised the attack with representatives from the Kaduna State Government. The UK Government is committed to working with Nigeria to tackle insecurity, and we have provided support to the Nigerian police to improve their anti-kidnap capacity. I discussed rising insecurity in Nigeria with the Vice President and with the Foreign Minister when I visited Nigeria in February; and with Nigeria's National Security Advisor during the first dialogue of our Security and Defence Partnership in February in London. At the dialogue, the UK and Nigeria committed to further our cooperation on preventing kidnaps in Nigeria.