Authorities in Nigeria arrested 76 people for attending a birthday party for gay people in Gombe state, the civil defence corps said on Monday. The agency said the organiser had also planned to hold a same sex wedding.
Buhari Saad, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) spokesperson for Gombe, said after receiving a tip off, the agency raided a party on Saturday night that was being attended by “homosexuals and pimps”.
He said 59 men had been arrested, including 21 who confessed to being homosexual, and 17 women.
Nigeria like many other African countries, has a stringent anti-gay law. The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, enacted in 2014, criminalizes same-sex marriage and public display of same-sex relationships. It punishes such acts with prison sentences of up to 14 years.
The law also punishes establishing, supporting, and participating in gay organizations with up to 10 years in prison. The police used the law for the first time in 2019 to prosecute 47 men accused of same-sex public displays of affection in Lagos State.
In December 2022, the Islamic police in Kano arrested 19 people accused of attending the wedding of a same-sex couple.
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The weekend arrests in Gombe are the latest targeting LGBTQ Nigerians. Police in August raided a gay wedding in Delta state, and arrested 69 people.
The Gombe NSCDC said in a statement that the organiser of the birthday party had also planned to wed another man, who was still at large, before police raided the event.
The case was expected to be heard in the Gombe state High Court on Tuesday, Saad said.
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