Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assistance the Government has provided to the Nigerian government in the search for the Chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped in April 2014.

In response to the abduction of the Chibok girls the UK, together with the US and France, provided a range of military and intelligence support to help the Nigerian government in their search for the missing girls, and to address the long-term challenges of terrorism.

Since 2014 the UK has significantly increased our military, intelligence and development support to Nigeria. This includes training and advice for Nigerian units deploying against Boko Haram. Last year almost 1000 Nigerian military personnel benefited from UK training to prepare them for counter-insurgency operations in the north east. We have also provided £5million to support the Multinational Joint Task Force set up by Nigeria and its neighbours to tackle the insurgents. Through our development assistance, the UK supports the Government of Nigeria’s Safe Schools Initiative which has helped over 90,000 displaced children to return to school and we have increased our humanitarian support to help deliver food, water and emergency healthcare to those affected by the conflict.

We remain fully committed to supporting Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram and to help find all those who are missing, including the Chibok girls.