In a renewed hostility against members of the LGBTQ community, the Nigerian Police authorities recently made several arrests and declared many members wanted. That was the aftermath of the August 2023 wedding ceremony attended by a large crowd of the LGBTQ community in the southern city of Warri in Delta state.
One of the LGBTQ members declared wanted by the Nigeria Police authorities is Adebola-Latifat Afolabi-Jimoh, a lesbian, a housewife and a mother of two who was at the Warri wedding ceremony with her partner, Janet who is also a lesbian. That night, they were found in an amorous position when men of the Nigerian Police swooped on them.
The Police made several arrests including Janet, but Adebola-Latifat Afolabi-Jimoh miraculously escaped.
All efforts to arrest and prosecute her by the Nigerian Police for engaging in illegal amoral activities, contrary to the Nigerian laws, proved abortive.
The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill was signed into law on January 7, 2014, by President Goodluck Jonathan. The law criminalizes public displays of affection between same-sex couples and restricts the work of organizations defending gay people and their rights. The law imposes a 14-year prison sentence on anyone who “[enters] into a same-sex marriage contract or civil union,” and a 10-year sentence on individuals or groups, including religious leaders, who “witness, abet, and aid the solemnization of a same-sex marriage or union.” It imposes a 10-year prison sentence on those who “directly or indirectly make [a] public show of same-sex amorous relationship” and anyone who “registers, operates, or participates in gay clubs, societies, and organizations,” including supporters of those groups. Another friends of hers , Aderonke Abiodun , Adekemi Basirat and Adelaja , a notorious bisexual , who were also at the party but escaped police arrest are also declared wanted by the police .
The Police has, therefore, declared these individuals and many others wanted, telling members of the public that anyone who knows the whereabouts of Adebola-Latifat Afolabi-Jimoh and Aderonke Abiodun, Adelaja Muritala and their other fleeing gang of friends who were also at the party but escaped arrest should contact them as all effort to get them arrested proved fruitless. But the search is still on.