ABUJA (Nigeria) — The police in Nigeria announced Tuesday that they had arrested at least 67 individuals celebrating a homosexual wedding. This was one of the largest arrests in Nigeria targeting illegal homosexuality.
Bright Edafe, a spokesman for the state police, told reporters that “gay suspects were arrested” in Ekpan Town of Delta State’s southern Delta at around 2 am on Monday during an event at which two of them had been married. He stated that homosexuality would “never be tolerated” by the West African nation.
The arrest of gays is common in Nigeria. This is Africa’s largest country. Complicits are also subject to 10 years of prison. The law, which was passed in 2013, has been condemned both locally and internationally. However, many people in the country support it.
Edafe, a reporter in Delta, said that the police stormed an Ekpan hotel where a gay wedding was taking place and arrested 200 people. He said that 67 people were arrested after the initial investigation.
He spoke in a police station, where suspects were being paraded.
He said, “The most amazing thing was that we were able to see two suspects and there’s a video where they are performing their wedding ceremony.” “We’re in Africa, and Nigeria.” “We cannot copy the Western culture because we do not have the same.”
He said that Nigerian police officers “cannot sit back and do nothing” as gay people freely express themselves in the country.
He said that “this is not something we will allow in Nigeria”, adding that the suspects would be charged at the conclusion of the investigation.
