Sodomy: Family Escapes Lynching Over Son’s Involvement

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has disclosed that an entire family in Yobe state were nearly killed by a mob over allegations that their son (name withheld) was practicing sodomy.

Sodomy means anal sexual intercourse.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu Esq, in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER, said that the enactment of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) has unfortunately increased attacks against gay people in the country.

He said that NHRC recently intervened in the case of about ninety young men in Anambra State who were arbitrarily arrested and charged for cultism and being gay.

“The NHRC cannot be silent in the face of the flagrant violations of human rights of the KPs such as arbitrary arrests, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, lynching, and other forms of extra-judicial murder.

“The Commission’s Yobe State Coordinator intervened to stop the lynching of entire family because their son was accused of sodomy,” he added.

Subsequently, Ojukwu said in Abuja that the Commission would launch a national programme of action for the protection of the rights of Key Populations (KPs) in Nigeria, so as to protect those categorized as LGBT members.

On his part, the Deputy Country Coordinator of the President Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), Dr. Murphy Akpu, advised stakeholders that key populations like LGBT members or HIV patients “ should not be denied the right to health just because of their sexual orientation or for whatever reason.”