Nigerian police extort money from man they claim is gay
Ikechukwu, a young Nigerian man, was harassed, threatened and accused of homosexuality by officers of the Nigerian police force, who later extorted money from him.
The incident demonstrates that Nigerian police have interpreted the country’s anti-gay law as an authorization to extort money from innocent Nigerian citizens.
The victim told the NoStrings podcast that, about two weeks ago, he was walking with a friend around Festac town in Lagos when he was approached by police officers who stopped them for interrogation. They then took his phone, went through its contents, and accused him of homosexuality.
The police later took him into custody, detaining him for five days before they asked him to pay the sum of 105,000 Naira (about US$375) or face homosexuality charges.
Ikechukwu (a pseudonym used here to protect the victim’s identity) couldn’t afford the requested amount, so he agreed to face the charges in court.
The charges were filed, but later were withdrawn by the police after they collected a smaller amount of money from Ikechukwu.
In this incident, police violated several laws. It is unlawful for police to detain an individual for more than 24 hours, ask for bribe, or access the contents of a person’s mobile phone without a warrant.
In a 2015 statement, Solomon Arase, the Nigerian inspector-general of police, warned police officers to desist from indiscriminate checking of personal information on mobile phones of members of the public.
He also reminded officers to ensure the protection of citizens’ rights to privacy and family life as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.Section 37 of the constitution states, “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations is hereby guaranteed and protected.”
Clearly, Ikechukwu’s right to privacy has been violated.
This is a classic case of a human rights violation. The inspector general of the Nigerian police force should respond by warning police to behave and by penalizing the offending officers.
Related articles:
- Mob beats up 20 suspected Nigerian homosexuals (June 24, 2016, 76crimes.com)
- Nigeria: Ex-leader seeks redo of anti-LGBT law he signed (June 6, 2016, 76crimes.com)
- With Nigeria’s anti-gay law, HIV care drops 10%-70% (July 2014, 76crimes.com)
- Setback in court challenge to Nigerian anti-gay law (October 2014, 76crimes.com)
- With Nigeria’s anti-gay law, HIV care drops 10%-70% (July 2014, 76crimes.com)
- AIDS could rebound as Nigeria gets harsh anti-gay law (January 2014, 76crimes.com)
- Archive of this blog’s articles about the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act.