Delta Police Arrests 67 Suspected Gays At Gay Wedding

The Delta State Police Command has arrested 67 suspected gays at Teebulus Hotel along Refinery Road Ekpan in the state.

The suspects were arrested on Monday, August 28th at a suspected gay wedding at the hotel.

Spokesman of the police command, Bright Edafe disclosed this in a terse statement issued on Tuesday.

Edafe said the wedding ceremony was between Daniel Pius ‘m’ (groom) and Maxwell Ohwonowho (bride).

Edafe did, not, however, say where the suspects will be investigated and prosecuted.

Delta State Police Command has arrested 67 gay suspects at a hotel on 28/8/2023. They were at a suspected gay wedding ceremony between Daniel Pius 'm' (groom) and Maxwell Ohwonowho (bride) at Teebulus Hotel along refinery road Ekpan. I paraded them today at Ekpan Police Station. pic.twitter.com/OghxJXwfpa

— DSP Bright Edafe PPRO DELTA STATE (@Brightgoldenboy) August 29, 2023

Gay or same-sex marriage is a crime in Nigeria. The bill, Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill was signed into law on January 7, 2014, by Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The law criminalises public displays of affection between same-sex couples and restricts the work of organizations defending gay people and their rights.

The law imposes a 14-year prison sentence on anyone who “[enters] into a same-sex marriage contract or civil union,” and a 10-year sentence on individuals or groups, including religious leaders, who “witness, abet, and aid the solemnization of a same-sex marriage or union.”

It imposes a 10-year prison sentence on those who “directly or indirectly make [a] public show of [a] same-sex amorous relationship” and anyone who “registers, operates, or participates in gay clubs, societies, and organizations,” including supporters of those groups.

Meanwhile, Kanyi Daily reported that a 21-year-old man, Ibrahim Ashafa has been arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) while metal drain ducts from the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos state.

Ashafa was nabbed by the patrol team of the RSS on Monday, August 28th at about 4:30 a.m.