Mass Arrests As Police Raid Alleged Gay Wedding In Delta

The Delta State Police Command has arrested more than 100 gay suspects of participating in a same-sex wedding event at a hotel within the state.

The authorities in Delta State, in South-south Nigeria, have confirmed the arrest of “over a hundred gay suspects” who were allegedly conducting a gay wedding ceremony at a hotel.

The police made this disclosure through a tweet from their official Twitter handle around 9:06 a.m. on Tuesday, said that the suspects would be presented in a parade shortly.

Homosexual relationships are illegal in Nigeria under the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, which was signed into law in 2014.

Nigeria’s anti-gay law, enacted in January 2014 by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, stipulates a 14-year prison term for anyone convicted of having sex with members of the same sex.

The Nigerian government put the law to the test for the first time in December 2019 when 47 men arrested by the police in a hotel in Lagos the previous year were arraigned in court, accused of publicly displaying affection for members of the same sex.

All 47 men pleaded not guilty and were granted bail by the court. A federal judge later struck out the charges against the men because of a “lack of diligent prosecution” by the police.

In another development, the Police Command on Monday said it has arrested and recovered weapons from suspected hoodlums causing mayhems in Warri and its environs.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, shared the development on their X, formerly Twitter handle.

The PPRO noted that the arrest followed a credible intelligence over the activities of some criminal elements.

He said the suspects have been operating within Warri, Udu, Koko and proximate environs.

According to him, the DPO Ekpan Division, CSP Aliyu Shaba, led the Surveillance Team and trailed the hoodlums to their hideout located at Aladja Grammar School in Aladja Town Udu Local Government where they were nabbed.

He, however, said “upon sighting the police, the hoodlums took to their heels; a search was conducted immediately around the uncompleted building and a sack bag was found.

“Upon searching the sack bag, the following items were recovered: one AK47 Rifle, one magazine loaded with seven rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, one English pump action gun with three live cartridges, and two cut-to-size double barrel gun.

“In a similar occurrence, on August 20, 2023 at approximately 1509hrs, the DPO Ekpan received a phone call from one Alhaji (name withheld) of Warri Sapele Road.

“It was revealed that some persons were sighted suspiciously within the yard. However, the civilian security/operatives in the yard flashed their torchlight on the suspected criminals, who immediately fled and abandoned a sack.

“Upon close look into the sack, two locally made single barrel guns, all detachable with 18 live cartridges. The DPO detailed the men of the division to the scene, where firearms and ammunition were recovered and registered as exhibits. Efforts are on to trace and identify the hoodlums still at large.”