Nigerian court releases 2 charged with homosexuality
Nigerian police have dropped charges against two men accused of same-sex intimacy after they spent five months in prison.
By Mike Daemon
A magistrate’s court in Benin City, Nigeria, has dropped charges against two suspected homosexuals.
Paul Frank, 31, and Christian Ejimofor, 22, were both arrested in December 2016 and charged with conspiracy, unlawful carnal knowledge and stealing.
After they spent about 50 miserable days abandoned in prison, Tom Malanga, a U.S.-based attorney who read about the story on NoStringsNG.com, intervened and provided support.
Bail was set close to about N200,000 each (about U.S. $635). Money which was later provided through Malanga’s associates in Nigeria.
The battle in court was a tough one. At one point, the court-appointed barrister assigned to defend the accused objected to the submission of a video confession on the grounds that it was obtained under duress, as the accused were allegedly beaten by the police. The objection was sustained and the video confession was tossed out.
Eventually, the charges against the accused were dropped by the police, leading to the magistrate cancelling all further hearings.
On May 30, the two defendants were released from prison.
Their months in prison were hellish for the two men, Malanga said. Ejimofor was ill and seriously malnourished. The men probably would have died or ended up spending 14 years in prison if not for his intervention, Malanga said.
Nigerian law provides for up to 14 years in prison for same-sex relationships.
Upon the men’s release, Malanga stated:
“I am filled with pride and happiness that this day has arrived, although I’m still angry that this happened at all and I’m also saddened knowing there are other LGBT people whose arrests were not publicized and are sitting in Nigerian prisons right now.”
This is just one of the many extreme experiences of LGBT persons in Nigeria. Homosexuals are viewed and treated as criminals. The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2014 criminalizes people just for living their authentic lives even though homosexuality is a valid sexual orientation just like heterosexuality. Being gay is never a choice.
The harsh law is an indication showing how backward the country is, and as well serves to promote human right violations.
Related articles:
- 2 celebrities are redefining gender for Nigerians (July 2016, 76crimes.com)
- Nigerian police extort money from man they claim is gay (June 2016, 76crimes.com)
- Training Nigeria’s future LGBT leaders
- AIDS could rebound as Nigeria gets harsh anti-gay law (76crimes.com)
- With Nigeria’s anti-gay law, HIV care drops 10%-70% (76crimes.com)
- Nigerian mob demands death for gay prisoners (76crimes.com)
- Court decision coming in suit vs. Nigeria’s anti-gay law (September 2014, 76crimes.com)
- Gay Prosecution: Open Letter to the Archbishop of Jos, Ignatius Kaigama | P.M. NEWS Nigeria (P.M. News Nigeria)
- Archive of articles by Mike Daemon
- Archive of articles about NoStrings
Hello Mike,
I just noticed the hyperlinks on the 76 page to both the no strings website and podcasts do not work.
See screenshot.
http://nostringspodcast.com/
You have moved them to a new address now right?
Many thanks. Darren Styles
Hi, Darren —
Sorry for the inconvenience. Those links were outdated, as you suspected. They have been fixed. Thanks for pointing out the problem.
— Colin Stewart, editor/publisher of this blog