Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs what steps he has taken as part of the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (a) to help prevent the persecution of religious minorities and (b) to support progress in defeating Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa.

Nigeria is facing rising conflict and insecurity. This includes terrorist groups in the North East such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa who target all those who do not subscribe to their extremist views. Through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (SDP), we are working with Nigeria's security forces to tackle insecurity and violence against civilian communities, including those of different religious backgrounds and belief systems. For example, in North-East Nigeria our partnership is delivering vital risk education around Improvised Explosive Devices and establishing civilian-military engagement to address local security needs. As part of the SDP, we have also committed to working with Nigeria to respond to the shared threat of terrorism and violent extremism. At the last UK-Nigeria SDP dialogue in February 2024 we welcomed a commitment from Nigeria on timely, effective and human rights compliant investigations of, and prosecutions for, terrorism crimes.