Visit to Nigeria July 2013

As chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nigeria I led a delegation to look at a range of human rights issues.

I was able to visit Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta as well as return to Lagos and Abuja for the third time.

The highlight of my visit was meeting a Hackney South and Shoreditch constituent in a waterfront settlement in Port Harcourt where he is working through Amnesty International with the community to support capacity building and develop a community radio.

Another waterside community was demolished by state forces and this community is working to challenge that. I met with the State Governor a day later and was able to put residents' concerns directly to him. We agreed to host a meeting in Hackney later this year.

I also met a range of stakeholders to discuss environmental rights, democratic rights, justice rights, the same sex marriage bill and women's rights.

Our report has recently been published, and you can find a link to it here

The visit was fully funded by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association with support from the Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House).

I am pleased to have recently received some photos from the trip.