Lord Patel of Blackburn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patel of Blackburn on 2014-06-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Nigeria to take action on the abduction of young girls by militant groups.

Baroness Warsi

The Prime Minister, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and the Minister for Africa, my Hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), have all spoken to their Nigerian counterparts since news of the abduction broke on 18 April. In May the Minister for Africa travelled to Nigeria to discuss the situation with President Jonathan and Defence Minister Gusau and to agree the range of British assistance now being provided. Our High Commission in Abuja are in regular contact with the Government of Nigeria about this abduction, which is an abhorrent crime.

The Foreign Secretary hosted the London Ministerial on Security in North East Nigeria on 12 June, in the margins of the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict. Representatives from Nigeria and its neighbours, as well as the US, France, Canada, United Nations, African Union and European Union agreed further concrete measures to tackle the terrorism threat in Nigeria and the region.