More than 70 young people were arrested by security forces on charges of organising a gay wedding in Nigeria, where such unions are criminalised and violence against the LGBTQ community is widespread.
"We apprehended 76 suspected homosexuals at a birthday party organised by one of them who was due to marry his fiancé at the event," said a spokesman for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, a paramilitary organisation under the government.
Same-sex marriage is illegal in Nigeria under a 2014 law, and punishable by 14 years in prison.
Intimidation of the LGBTQ community is rife in Nigeria, and in recent years the security forces have carried out numerous raids on parties where they believe weddings are taking place.
Gombe State, where the arrests took place is also one of the northern states with a Muslim majority where Islamic Sharia law is applied alongside the federal and state judicial systems. Under Sharia law, homosexual relations are punishable by death.
Enough is enough!!!
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