Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the reported killings of religious minorities in Nigeria; and what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help ensure freedom of religion and belief in that country.

The UK champions 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 we regularly raise FoRB bilaterally with the Nigerian Government. The UK Government is 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. This includes financial support to programmes which strengthen mechanisms to resolve conflict and build resilience in affected communities. Through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership, we also engage with Nigerian security actors to address these complex issues.