In Abuja, Nigeria, the police have apprehended 67 individuals who were celebrating a same-sex wedding, marking one of the largest mass detentions in the country targeting homosexuality. The arrests took place in Ekpan town, Delta state, at 2 a.m. on Monday. State police spokesman Bright Edafe emphasized that Nigeria will never tolerate homosexuality.
Unfortunately, arrests of LGBTQ people are common in Nigeria, where the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act imposes a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for individuals and 10 years for accomplices. While some in Nigeria support this law, it has faced condemnation both locally and internationally.
Amnesty International’s Nigeria office condemned the recent arrests and urged an immediate end to this witch-hunt. Isa Sanusi, the organization’s director in Nigeria, stated that the law banning same-sex relationships is frequently abused for harassment, extortion, and blackmail.
The police in Delta raided a hotel where the wedding ceremony was taking place, initially detaining 200 people and later releasing 67 after investigations. Edafe revealed that two individuals were spotted performing their wedding ceremony in a video recording. He stressed that Nigeria cannot imitate the Western world due to cultural differences and that the police cannot stand idly by while gay people openly express their sexual orientation.
The suspects will face charges in court once the investigation is complete. During a live broadcast of the suspects’ parade by the police, one arrestee claimed they were not attending the wedding but were at the hotel for another event. Another suspect stated that they do not identify as LGBTQ and were arrested while en route to a fashion show. Activists have accused the Nigerian police of using the same-sex prohibition law as a pretext for mass arrests, sometimes targeting heterosexual individuals as well.
Nigeria is among several African countries that have criminalized same-sex relationships, with Uganda recently enacting a law that includes the death penalty in some cases. The fight for LGBTQ rights in Africa continues amidst these oppressive laws.
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