Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Nigeria about (1) the protection of freedom of speech and the press in that country, and (2) the imprisonment of journalist Luka Binniyat on 4 November 2021.

The UK Government strongly believes that the rights of individuals and independent media to express opinions and peacefully challenge authority are essential to a free and open society, and we launched our media freedom campaign in 2018 to shine a global spotlight on media freedom. We regularly meet with the Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission to discuss media freedom. Through our engagement we advocate for the protection of the rights of journalists, and we will continue to do so. We are aware of the arrest of journalist Luka Binniyat and understand his case is ongoing. Officials at the British High Commission in Abuja are closely following developments.