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Gay Nigerians
face Sharia death
 10
August 2007- Eighteen men have been remanded in prison following
their arrest for alleged sodomy in northern Nigeria, the state-owned
news agency, Nan, reports. The men were arrested in a hotel in
north-eastern Bauchi State, which is governed by the Islamic Sharia law.
The Sharia
punishment for sodomy is death by stoning. The men, reportedly wearing
women's clothes, are said to have gone to Bauchi town from neighbouring
states to celebrate a "gay wedding".
Sharia judge
Malam Tanimu ordered that the 18 be remanded in prison after they were
arraigned before him on Wednesday. Prosecuting police officer Tadius
Boboi said the men's actions had contravened Sharia law, adopted in
Bauchi and a dozen other states in Muslim northern Nigeria in 2000.
Amputations
More than a
dozen Nigerian Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning and for
sexual offences ranging from adultery and homosexuality. But none of
these death sentences have actually been carried out as they were either
thrown out on appeal or commuted to prison terms as a result of pressure
from human rights groups.
Many others
have been sentenced to flogging by horsewhip for drinking. But there
have been two amputations in north-western Zamfara State which pioneered
the introduction of the Islamic legal system in the country.
Taboo
Nigeria, like
many African countries, is a conservative society where homosexuality is
considered a taboo. The Nigerian parliament has been trying to pass a
controversial law introduced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo
banning gay rights organisations.
Gay activists
and some human rights groups have condemned the proposed legislation and
called for its rejection. But homosexuality and same sex marriage are
illegal in Nigeria and are considered very serious offences. In April, a
woman reportedly fled Nigeria after being accused of organising a
polygamous lesbian wedding. She later denied the reports.
Two years ago,
a Sharia court sentenced a man to six months in prison and fined him $38
for living as a woman for seven years in Kano.
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