U.K. rejects Nigerian man’s asylum bid
John Abraham, 25, of Nigeria was deported from the United Kingdom on March 16, despite his plea for asylum from attacks on gay men in Nigeria, the online African news service Behind the Mask reported.
His lawyers argued that he would face persecution and physical attacks in Nigeria because he is gay.
Abraham said British officials refused to believe that he is gay, Gay Star News reported.
His case had attracted support from LGBT rights groups in Europe.
Abraham had been in Britain since 2008, when he left Nigeria to study business administration.
Abraham had been held at the Coinbrook Immigration Removal Center near Heathrow Airport. He had initially been scheduled for deportation March 8.
Bisi Alimi, director for Africa of the international LGBT group Kaleidoscope, had urged British officials to approve Abraham’s bid for asylum.
“The situation in Nigeria is really bad,” he said.
“There is very strong, aggressive, hate coming from there. We get reports even now of gay people being the victims of police brutality and being harassed and abused by the community,” he said.
Current law in Nigeria provides for a 14-year prison sentence for homosexual acts. In northern Nigerian states where sharia law applies, gay sex is punishable by death.
The Nigerian senate has approved a bill that would make same-sex marriages illegal, punishable by up to 14 years in jail, with a sentence of up to 10 years for anyone helping at a gay marriage.
