Dozens arrested at ‘homosexual’ birthday party in Nigeria
Nigerian authorities last month arrested dozens of people in Gombe state who were celebrating homosexual birthdays” and planning to “hold a same-sex marriage.” Media reports note the country’s paramilitary agency on Oct.
23 announced the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corp authorities arrested 59 men and 17 women. An NSCDC spokesperson said authorities raided the party after it received a tip that “homosexuals and pimps” were attending it.
The spokesperson said 21 of the 59 men who were arrested “confessed to being homosexual.” A statement the local NSCDC released said the party organizer had planned to marry another man. “We unreservedly condemn these blatantly discriminatory arrests and call for the immediate release of all involved,” said Amnesty International in an Oct.
25 statement. Nigeria is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized. Homosexuality remains punishable by death in areas of the country that are under Sharia law.
