Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Gombe State Command, have arrested scores of individuals who are alleged to be hosting a same-sex wedding. The NSCDC operatives arrested at least 76 suspects in connection with the same-sex event.
The state Public Relations Officer, Buhari Sa’ad, disclosed this while parading the suspects before journalists at the command’s headquarters in Gombe on behalf of the state Commandant, Mohammed Muazu.
He said out of the 76 suspects, 59 are males with 21 said to have confessed to being gay, while 17 females were also arrested at the scene.He said, “They were arrested at Duwa Plaza along Bauchi-Gombe Expressway while holding a homosexual birthday and they had plans to hold a same-sex wedding before our men raided the scene.
“Fifty-nine males were arrested, 21 wilfully confessed to being homosexuals, and 17 females present at the scene were also picked. “They will be charged to court to answer for their crime which is on social vice; a crime in Gombe State.”
In August, the Nigerian police paraded over 60 men allegedly carrying out a “gay wedding ceremony”, in Delta state. Police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe, said police operatives had intercepted a cross-dresser who confessed that he was a member of a gay club and was on his way to attend a same-sex marriage ceremony. The cross-dresser led the operatives to the venue of the ceremony at Teebolus Hotel, off Refinery Road, Ekpan in Warri.
A court in Warri, Delta state, on 21 September 2023 later freed the suspects after each of them posted a 500,000 Naira bail despite the state prosecutor’s opposition. The men , who did not appear in court, were also ordered to sign a register once a month until their next hearing, according to their lawyer
