The Nigerian police have arraigned 47 men caught in a compromising homosexual relationship for trial at Ikeja Magistrate court.
The suspects, who were arrested in an hotel at Egbeda, a Lagos suburb, were docked last month.
The men were among 57 arrested in a raid in the township district of the commercial capital city of Lagos in 2018.
All the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge and they were all admitted into bail in the sum of N500,000.00 per person.
The trial became the first open trial for gays in the country as no trial of such has ever been held despite the fact that homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria and most African countries with severe punishments like life imprisonment and death penalty.
The police spokesman told journalists that the men were being initiated into gay club when they were arrested, but the accused persons denied and said they were just attending an all male birthday party.
The police spokesman further said that they were arrested for violating same sex marriage prohibition act which banned gay relationships in Nigeria.
When asked to comment on the fate of an alleged lesbian, Akinyemi Taibat Ajibola, who was declared wanted for prosecution sometime in 2013, the officer said Akinyemi Taibat Ajibola was declared wanted because she was caught in a compromising lesbian relationship with another lesbian partner in Ikoyi area of Lagos and she managed to run away from a mob attack before the police got to the scene of the incident to prevent her arrest with that of her partner.
The officer explained further that all efforts to effect her arrest proved abortive as the police authority later learnt that she was aided to flee abroad by her parents in order for her to escape prosecution.
The police spokesman finally advised wealthy Nigerians to stop exposing their children to wrong western values which turn them to homosexuals and lesbians so that they will not violate laws of the country.
“I want to reiterate that parents and family members should desist from covering up for their children or family members who they suspect to be involved in this dirty act of homosexuality.
“In the case of Akinyemi Taibat Ajibola, if not that her family members did everything in their power to cover her and assisted her to escape from the country, she would have been arrested by now.
“That being said, I want to assure you that we still have a nationwide arrest warrant very active on her and anywhere she is sighted, she will be arrested”, the police spokesman said.
