Raiding the Location of an Alleged Gay Wedding Party, Police Arrest More Than 200 People

Illustration of arrests. (Wikimedia Commons/Oregon Department of Transportation)

JAKARTA - Police arrested more than 200 people at a location suspected of holding a gay couple's wedding, one of the largest mass arrests targeting the LGBTQ community.

A police spokesman in Nigeria's southern Delta state, where the arrests took place, said on Tuesday 67 people would be tried for "allegedly conducting and attending same-sex marriage ceremonies".

In a live broadcast on Tuesday, a police official described the incident as a crime.

"We cannot imitate the western world. We are Nigerians and we must follow the culture of this country," the official said, as quoted by CNN, August 30.

Behind the official were the suspects. Some of them told reporters on live broadcasts they were not gay and were models and fashion designers.

Police said video footage of the wedding party and alleged substance use were obtained during the raid.

"The illicit crime scene was searched, and the following items were found at the scene: one bottle of codeine, three cups of refined Canadian liquor, five sachets of SK, one sachet of tramadol, four molly tablets, one crusher, gay wedding ceremony gown," explained the police in their statement.

The statement added that police became aware of the incident after routine patrol officers stopped a participant on Sunday evening.

"He claims to be an actor," the statement said.

"Upon questioning, he confessed that he was a member of a certain gay club and he was on his way to join his fellow members for a gay wedding ceremony," the statement continued.

Same-sex relationships are prohibited in Nigeria. Those found guilty of engaging in same-sex relationships face up to 14 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International Nigeria condemned the situation as a "witch hunt". They called on the Delta State police to release those detained, who were "arrested and paraded to the media and to end this witch hunt immediately," in a statement on Twitter.

"In societies where corruption is rife, laws against same-sex relationships are increasingly being used to abuse, extort and extort people by law enforcement officials and other members of the public. This is unacceptable," the agency said.

The latest arrests come five years after 57 men suspected of homosexuality were arrested in a police raid on a Lagos hotel in 2018.