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Nigerian Police arrest more than 100 people for attending suspected same-sex marriage

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 29 Aug 2023

Nigerian Police arrest more than 100 people for attending suspected same-sex marriage

Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Abuja: Nigerian Police have arrested more than 100 people in Delta for attending a suspected same-sex marriage.

This is one of the major mass arrest incidents reported from the country targeting the LGBTQ community.

A police spokesperson in the southern Delta state told reporters as quoted by CNN that on Tuesday 67 people will be prosecuted for “allegedly conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony.”

Nigeria bans same-sex marriage.

The African country's strict penal code approves a punishment of up to 14 years in prison for people who are convicted of engaging in a same-sex civil union.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International Nigeria asked the police to release the arrested people.

"Amnesty International is calling on the Nigeria’s Delta state police command to immediately release the over 100 men, arrested and paraded to the media, over allegedly organizing gay marriage and put an immediate end to this witch-hunt,"Amnesty International Nigeria wrote on X.