Nigerian govts tasked on rights of LGBTQ community
A bisexual female Nigerian, Mrs. Chioma Esther Onyeukwu, has implored the country’s federal and state governments to show more understanding for the plight of girls and women with different sexual orientations.
According to her, this call is necessary because of the danger facing such females from security agencies and the general public.
In a chat, she lamented her plight over alleged violation of the Same-Sex Marriage Act 2014, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under which members of the country’s LGBTQ community are arrested.
Narrating her ordeal, the Imo State-born mother of 4, said she is a responsible citizen who has contributed her quota to nation building in the real estate sector.
She spoke on how her bisexuality and insecurity in the country has made life difficult for her and her family as well as how culture and religion have caged her growing up and the dangers she faced when she decided to come to the open.
She elaborated more on the insecurities faced in her community, ranging from unknown gunmen, activities of kidnappers and the arrest and lynching of lesbians and gay people. There is also the war between the separatist Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and security agencies.
Her words: “In July 2022 the government ordered that public and private schools in the federal capital Abuja be shut down due to insecurity although the directive was later rescinded. My son was kidnapped in November 2022, and released after we paid a ransom. We didn’t report to the police due to public distrust for the force and the kidnappers’ threats.
On Saturday 1st of April 2023, some police personnel arrested me for my being a lesbian.
My girlfriend and I were in her house where I went to tell her goodbye because I was to travel to the UK for vacation. We were caught in the act by her husband who had travelled to France on a business trip but came back unexpectedly.
He was shocked and livid. He called the police who took us to their Garki divisional station in Abuja .Till this day, the thought that I could have been lynched still haunts and traumatizes me.
On 10 April 2023, my husband called to inform me that police personnel from their Abuja headquarters were in the house to rearrest me. He told them I had traveled to the UK with the children for vacation.
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They left, threatening to return and keep searching for me. He sought advice from his lawyer who informed him that since my offence contravened the provisions of the Same-Sex Marriage Act of Nigeria, he cannot defend me in court even if I return to Nigeria on completion of my vacation.
The lawyer advised my husband to allow me to seek asylum. He said if I return, I will still be arrested, prosecuted, and possibly killed even after serving a jail term.
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