Mass arrests target LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria while abuses against them are ignored, activists say

Source: Associated Press

Mass arrests target LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria while abuses against them are ignored, activists say

BY CHINEDU ASADU
Updated 3:05 AM EDT, October 27, 2023

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Law enforcement authorities in Nigeria are using the country’s same-sex prohibition law to target the LGBTQ+ community while ignoring abuses against them, rights groups and lawyers say, in the wake of fresh mass arrests of gay people.

Nigeria is one of more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries where homosexuality is criminalized in laws that are broadly supported by the public, even though the constitution guarantees freedom from discrimination, and the right to private and family life.

Mass arrests and detention of queer Nigerians that continued this week were done without proper investigations and could further expose them to danger amid the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments in Africa’s most populous country, rights groups said.

The country’s paramilitary agency on Monday announced the arrest of more than 70 young people – 59 men and 17 women – in the northern Gombe state, accusing them of “holding homosexual birthdays” and having “the intention to hold a same-sex marriage.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-arrests-homosexuality-nigeria-gay-rights-1f05b27f6cd2bb5bfb2319c90730f444