The West African nation's law enforcement authorities performed mass arrests of queer Nigerians this week using the country's same-sex prohibition law to target the LGBTQ+ community.
Homosexuality was criminalized in Nigeria, which was supported by the public even though the constitution guarantees freedom from discrimination and the right to private and family life.
Mass Arrests of Queer Nigerians
A young man holds a sign questioning LGBTI killings during a march marking the National Day of Mourning, aiming at commemorating all the lives lost to violent killings and mass displacement in the country, on May 28, 2018 in Lagos.
According to the Independent, the country's paramilitary agency announced the arrest of more than 70 young people in the northern Gombe state accused of holding homosexual birthdays and marriage on Monday.
The rights groups reported that mass arrests and detention of queer Nigerians were not thoroughly investigated and could endanger the community with Africa's Anti-LGBTQ+ law.
Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said a similar detention was performed in August in the Southern Delta State, wherein more than 60 people at a gay wedding were arrested. Sanusi said the arrest was "an uptick in this trend of witchhunt and gross violation of human rights."
According to Anietie Ewang, a Nigerian researcher with the Human Rights Watch's Africa Division, queer Nigerians have suffered from abuse and stereotypes since their 2016 report and until now. Lawyers and rights groups said the recent most extensive mass detention suspects were falsely accused and subjected to oppressive conditions.
The lawyers reported that a failed trial of the 47 men occurred in 2018, and they were charged with public displays of affection for LGBTQ+ members at a hotel in Lagos. The court dismissed the case and was recognized as a lack of diligent prosecution, as reported by ABC News.
In 2022, police arrested dozens of gays at a gay wedding at a Delta State hotel. The suspects paraded in front of cameras on a live social media broadcast. The suspect said that he was at the hotel for another agenda. Another suspect explained his side as he cleared that he did not identify as part of the community and was arrested on his way to a fashion show.
Bashir Sani, one of the suspects, denied the allegation and said there was no wedding but a birthday.
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Anti-LGBTQ + Law
Nigeria's Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2013 was supported by more than 210 million people, which punishes gay marriage with up to 14 years in prison. The law forced many Nigerian gays to flee the country.
Okechukwu Nwanguma, the leader of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, said the mass arrests show how the anti-gay law was being exploited without a fair procedure.
"The law enforcement authorities are exploiting the law to target people whether or not they are queer. There is a tendency to target them based on assumptions or allegations, not based on any investigation," Nwanguma said.
Nigerians were used to delayed justice, where the criminal justice system has been denounced as corrupt. But Chizelu Emejulu, an activist and lawyer, has admitted that the LGBTQ+ community was the most vulnerable.
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