The Delta State Police command has revealed why it arrested those who were engaged in gay marriage in the state, News About Nigeria reports.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, police stated that they detained at least 67 persons. State police spokesman Bright Edafe stressed that police personnel in Nigeria “cannot fold their hands” and watch gay people openly display their orientation in the country.
Around 2 a.m. (01:00 GMT) on Monday, the “gay suspects” were arrested during a wedding celebration where two of them were engaged, state police spokes Bright Edafe told reporters. He continued by stating that homosexuality “will never be tolerated” in the country of West Africa.
Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian law outlawing same-sex “amorous relationships” and homosexual marriage, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, sparked a global uproar when it went into effect in 2014.
But many in this still conservative nation also favour the bill. Same-sex partnerships are already prohibited in more than 30 African nations, and LGBT persons are frequently arrested in Nigeria.
200 persons were first detained by Delta police after they raided a hotel in Ekpan where a gay wedding was taking place, Edafe told reporters. After preliminary investigations, 67 of them were later jailed.
“The amazing part of it was that we saw two suspects, and there is a video recording where they were performing their wedding ceremony,” he said. “We are in Africa and we are in Nigeria. We cannot copy the Western world because we don’t have the same culture.”
“This is not something that will be allowed in Nigeria,” he said, adding that the suspects will be charged in court at the end of the investigation.
