The police in Nigeria has declared a forty-three year old Mr. Nwosu Chukwunyere wanted for suspected being gay.
The suspect, from Iyalu Ibere in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State is accused of violating the country’s anti-gay law for his alleged involvement in the act.
In a media statement, the police claimed that Nwosu was wanted for engaging in the act deemed to be against Nigeria’s extant laws.
The statement said anyone with useful information that could lead to his arrest to report to the nearest police department.
Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, enacted in 2014, criminalizes same-sex marriage and public displays of same-sex relationships with prison sentences of up to 14 and 10 years respectively. It also punishes establishing, supporting, and participating in gay organizations with up to 10 years in prison.
The passage of the law has been followed by widespread reports of mob violence against LGBTQ people. In February 2014 in Gishiri village, Abuja, located in northern Nigeria, a mob of 50 people severely beat 14 suspected gay men. Victims report their attackers chanting, ‘We are doing (President Goodluck) Jonathan’s work: cleansing the community of gays.’ Violence against LGBTQ people has not only been perpetrated by private citizens. Police in Ibadan, located in the south, reportedly detained young men who were arrested at a birthday party because community members told police gay men were gathered. Condoms belonging to an HIV educator at the gathering were considered grounds for arrest. The men were eventually released after paying small bribes.
In this climate of heightened mob violence and police detention targeting LGBTQ individuals, some LGBTQ people in Nigeria have adopted extreme forms of self-censoring to avoid community and police harassment. LGBTQ individuals ’avoid associating with other LGBTQ community members, increasing their isolation and, in some cases, eventually compelling them to marry an opposite-sex partner, have children and conform to socially prescribed gender norms.
There is a significant psychosocial burden on LGBTQ individuals living in Nigeria as a result of the social and legal status of this community. This psychosocial burden has been conceptualised in the minority stress model, which describes the deleterious health impact of the chronic discrimination that marginalised individuals face due to their stigmatised identities.
