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Four young men have been beaten and chased out of a Nigerian city after they were found engaging in consensual same-sex sexual activity.
An angry mob paraded the four men, who were only wearing boxing shorts, down Nomayo Street in Benin City, the capital of Edo state, on Nov. 17. One of them had a visible deep cut on his forehead as a result of the beating.
The mob threatened to kill them if they were to return to the city. It also questioned why they were “into” homosexuality when there were many women in the area.
Samson Mikel, a Nigerian LGBTQ activist, said the attack was misdirected anger.
“Benin City is one of the backward places in Nigeria and a dorm for scammers and other crimes, the people are proud of their roughness, they are never concerned about these other crimes or how the government is impoverishing them, but will light gay men on fire the moment they think,” said Mikel. “All they want is to live and experience love. They are not the cause of the economic meltdown in the country, neither are they the reason why there are no jobs in the streets of Nigeria.”
Attacks like the one that happened in Benin City have been happening across Nigeria — the latest took place in Port Harcourt in Rivers state last month.
Section 214 of the Criminal Code Act on Unnatural Offenses says any person who has “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature, or has carnal knowledge of an animal, or permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, is guilty of a felony” and could face up to 14 years in prison.
Several LGBTQ people and activists have been arrested under Section 214.
In some cases they are murdered with law enforcement officials showing little to no interest in investigating, such as the case of Area Mama, a popular cross-dresser whose body was found along the Katampe-Mabushi Expressway in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, in August.
The Initiative for Equal Rights, a Nigerian advocacy group, said the federal government should take concrete steps to protect the rights of all Nigerians.
“For many, especially LGBTQIA+ individuals, women, and those within the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity, Expression and Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC), community, freedom remains a distant goal. Discrimination, violence and human rights violations are daily realities,” said TIERs Nigeria. “Despite the progress we have made, the journey towards justice is long, but our voices remain unwavering.”
TIERs Nigeria also called upon the federal government to repeal the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2014, to respond to the African Commission’s recommendation to review laws that criminalize rights of assembly and association, and to enact laws and policies that discourage hate speech and other actions that incite discrimination against LGBTQ people.
Many Nigerians vehemently oppose public discussions about LGBTQ-specific issues because of religious and cultural beliefs.
A number of local and international human rights organizations have advised the federal government to prioritize the rights of everyone in Nigeria, including those who identify as LGBTQ. There is, however, little hope that Nigerian officials will do this anytime soon.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death in states with Sharia law. Those who advocate for LGBTQ rights in these areas could also face a similar fate.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
