Nigeria’s security forces arrest 76 people over ‘gay wedding’ in latest raid on LGBTQ community
- In 2014, Nigeria passed new legislation outlawing same-sex marriages and the promotion of civil unions
- Homosexuality is punishable by death under sharia in northern Nigeria, although that sentence has never been enforced
Nigerian security personnel have arrested more than 70 young people after accusing them of organising a gay wedding in northeastern Gombe state, a security spokesman said on Monday, in the latest raid on the LGBTQ community.
Same-sex marriage is illegal in Nigeria under a 2014 law and Gombe is also one of the majority-Muslim northern states where Islamic sharia law runs parallel to the federal and state justice system.
Personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), an official paramilitary outfit, on Saturday raided a relaxation spot in Gombe, the state capital, and rounded up suspects they accused of having a “gay party” and planned wedding of two male lovers, said Buhari Saad, NSCDC spokesman in Gombe.
“We apprehended 76 suspected homosexuals … while holding a birthday party organised by one of them who was to wed his male bride at the event,” Saad said.
The suspects included 59 men and 17 women, with 21 of the men “wilfully confessing being gay”, he said.
Lawyers for those arrested could not immediately be contacted for comment or confirmation.
We will charge them to court to answer for their actions once investigation is conclude
The would-be groom was arrested while the bride-to-be fled along with other guests, the official said.