ARRESTED:
42 NIGERIAN Gay Men in Police Net…for seeking HIV Testing and Counseling
* Raids of Vincent Hotel douse rumors of homosexuals
* ‘LGBT Community in Nigeria were Receiving HIV Testing, Counseling and Education being Nigeria has one of the biggest HIV epidemics in the world’-Bisi Alimi, LGBT British Activist
*Says: ‘Those men were trying to save their lives and make their country better by preventing the spread of HIV’
* “42 suspected homosexuals were arrested and the hotel has been condoned off while investigation continues”-Lagos PPRO
BY TOPE ANIMASHAUN/STAFF WRITER, LAGOS
42 NIGERIAN GAY MEN were swooped upon and arrested by officers of Nigerian Police for attending counseling, taking education and undergoing HIV testing in Lagos state. The Nigerian Police got wind of the gay men seeking HIV testing and raids Vincent Hotels, their abode, where they were all arrested for flouting Nigerian law.
Dozens of gay and bisexual men have been arrested in Nigeria for attending an HIV awareness event. Police in Lagos State raided the Vincent Hotel recently around 3:30 p.m.
An eye witness account reportedly said there had been rumors “that the hotel harbors homosexuals” and “about 40 of them were caught in the act” in this mass arrest.
In his own reaction, a Nigerian LGBT rights activist who relocated to United Kingdom (UK), Bisi Alimi told Reuters that the “act” was receiving HIV testing, counseling, and education. Nigeria has one of the biggest HIV epidemics in the world. A 2015 report counted 3.5 million people living with the virus, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
For Bisi: “These men were trying to save their lives and make their country better by preventing the spread of HIV.”
Confirming this development, a public relations officer of the Lagos State police corroborated that “42 suspected homosexuals were arrested and the hotel has been condoned off while investigation continues. The men are now awaiting trial.”
For the records, Homosexuality, including LGBT events and organizations, has been banned in the central African nation since 2014, and police have aggressively arrested gay and bisexual men since; punishments include up to 14 years in prison and public whippings.
In April, Nigerian authorities arrested 53 men for attending an unofficial same-sex wedding, though the accused’s lawyers said they were actually at a birthday party.
#Additional Reports by The Punch newspaper
