Gay men nigeria

He said he had grown fond of him, even trusted him, and so one afternoon he met Jamal in town and went back to his place. In Nigeria, gay men are portrayed as cancers eating deeply into the fabric of society—tumors that must be obliterated. When Nigeria passed some of the toughest anti-homosexuality laws in Africa, the internet became a place for the LGBT community to connect with others more safely - until criminal gangs went digital too.

Law enforcement authorities in Nigeria are using the country’s same-sex prohibition law to target the LGBTQ+ community while ignoring abuses against them, rights groups and lawyers say, in the wake of fresh mass arrests of gay people. Even if his father is queer, he has no issues with that.

While LGBTQ+ communities exist in the country, they face significant challenges, including discrimination, criminalization, and societal stigma. According to a group of activists who work with the LGBT community in Nigeria, around 15 to 20 people contact them each week with similar stories to Mohammed.

So I also gave them wrong information. Reliving what happened to him was just too painful. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Nigeria face significant challenges. He was always careful when he planned to see someone - but one arrangement shattered his life forever.

The father of three met Jamal online. What's the name of your parents? Homosexuality in Nigeria remains a deeply contentious issue, shaped by cultural, religious, legal, and social factors. Jamal and the gang made a video of him, naked, begging them to let him go.

BBC Africa Eye interviewed 21 people in all about their experiences of being "kito'd". The federal Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of says anyone. After sharing out the money between them, the gang let him go. He had kept his sexuality to himself - outwardly he was a married man raising a family.

A Nigerian gay man who fled the country after openly coming out in the early s, Bisi Alimi, now runs a training programme, the Rainbow Academy, where queer Nigerians are trained to challenge homophobia. He described the moment when a phone call to his son saved him from ending it all.

Living life in secret as a gay man in Nigeria was dangerous for Mohammed. However, the LGBTQ community, estimated at 15 to 20 million people, continues to maintain an underground culture, especially in Southern Nigeria. BBC Africa Eye investigates how blackmailers pose as potential dates on popular dating apps, only to extort, beat and even kidnap people.

Mohammed broke down at this point, wrenched off the white hood, got up, hid his face and began to cry. Mohammed was about to get in the shower but once he had taken off his clothes, a group of men burst in and started beating him and demanding money. Where are you from?

LGBTQ rights are largely infringed upon. He lifts his hand to show the scar that remains at the base of his thumb from the attack. Emmanuel, not his real name, described how he started chatting to a friend online, but had not realised his friend's account had been hijacked.

Same-sex sexual activity is illegal under both the federal criminal code in southern Nigeria, where sex acts between men can result in up to 14 years of imprisonment and the Sharia law in northern states, where the maximum sentence is death by stoning. My son told me he loves his father.

Speaking with a white hood pulled over his head and a mask to conceal his identity, he agreed to talk to the BBC as long as his anonymity was guaranteed. This type of blackmail, where an LGBT person is entrapped, is known in Nigeria's gay community as "kito" - the exact origin of the term is unclear.

They had been chatting for some time when he finally decided to see him in person. Warning: This article contains a reference to suicide. We asked 89 gay and bisexual Nigerian men to fill in questionnaires that asked them about self-stigma due to being gay and bisexual, quality of life and the coping strategies they used.

They said: 'What's the name of the school you attend? When he arranged to meet up with him, he was ambushed by a gang of around five men.