To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what communications (a) she and (b) officials in her Department have had with her Nigerian counterpart on the need to locate and rescue Leah Sharibu.
Answered on
18 October 2021
We are deeply concerned by the abduction and continued captivity of children by Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) and Boko Haram in North East Nigeria. We have routinely raised the case of Leah Sharibu with the Government of Nigeria since she was abducted by ISWA in 2018. Most recently, in June this year, officials at the British High Commission in Abuja raised Leah's case with the Nigerian authorities.
My predecessor visited Nigeria in April where he discussed insecurity, including kidnaps, with the Foreign Minister and the President's Chief of Staff, and raised the importance of protecting all communities. The Nigerian Government has provided assurances it is doing all it can to secure the release of all those kidnapped. We have also provided support to Nigerian Police Force units to improve their anti-kidnap capacity, to help reduce harm to victims and to hold those responsible to account.