Draft talk:Incidents of LGBTQ+ Raids, Arrests, and Arbitrary Detention in Nigeria

Incidents of LGBTQ+ Raids, Arrests, and Arbitrary Detention in Nigeria

In a setting where homosexuality is criminalized by laws widely endorsed by the public, despite constitutional assurances of freedom from discrimination and the right to private and family life, recent mass arrests and detentions of LGBTQ+ individuals in Nigeria is increasingly on a rise. These actions, occurring without proper investigations, pose heightened risks to the affected individuals, all within the backdrop of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition ) Act of 2013 enacted in 2014 reflecting the challenges faced amid prevailing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments in Africa's most populous country.

Over the years, the LGBTQ+ community in Nigeria have witnessed significant raids, arrests and arbitrary detentions by the Nigerian Police many of these arrests often made without arrest warrants with the identities of the officers involved often concealed. These arrests are mostly accompanied with extensive extortion and criminalistics charges against victims who in most cases do not have access to legal representation and as such, such cases of extortion go unreported. Human rights organizations have often criticized these indiscriminate practices of the police as it thus violates the rights of LGBTQs persons, however these criticisms are often ignored by the government and law enforcement authorities .Here, in no particular order are some of the most recent incidents of police misconduct against LGBTQ persons in Nigeria

Egbeda 57 Case

The raid of a party at Kelly Ann Hotel/ Event Centre in Egbeda, Lagos, on Sunday morning was done at the wee hour of 2am, following the raid, the Lagos Police Department released a statement on Monday about the arrest while parading 57 persons accusing them of allegedly engaging in homosexual initiations. The raid saw the arrest of some counselor Testers who present at the Party to offer HIV testing services and prevention messages. Peer to peer counseling and HIV testing services are mostly achieved through social events as such parties. Among the victims of the arrest was the now popular Internet personality James Chukwueze Obialor popularly known as James W.F Brown