FAMILY CONDEMNS DISGRACED LGBTQ ACTIVIST, PAUL LONGLIFE ONOVUGHAKPOR IN DELTA STATE
Some family members of Mr. Paul Longlife Onovughakpor have disowned the popular LGBTQ campaigner and bisexual, following his arrest along with other Gays at a gay wedding in Delta State. Some of his family members from the Urhobo community of Jesse Town, Ethiope L.G.A of Delta State are outraged and very bitter and aggrieved that one of their sons has brought the family name to shame, disrepute and colossal disgrace, which to them was unforgivable. It was an abomination he committed in our land and community in Delta State. It was a grave offence for which he must be brought to book. it is unpardonable, they lamented. Nigerian police arrested more than 200 people at a wedding on a Monday, in one of the biggest mass arrests in recent years targeting the country’s LGBTQ community and Mr. Paul A police spokesperson in the southern Delta state told reporters Tuesday that 67 people will be prosecuted for “allegedly conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony.” Same-sex relationships are criminalized in Nigeria, and its penal code approves a punishment of up to 14 years in prison for people who are convicted of entering into a same-sex civil union. In a live broadcast on Tuesday, a police official described the event as evil and “we cannot copy the western world… we are Nigeria and we must follow the culture of this country.” Behind him were the suspects, some of whom told journalists in the live broadcast that they were not gay and were models and fashion designers. Amnesty International Nigeria condemned the situation as “a witch-hunt.” It called on Delta state police to release the detained people, who were “arrested and paraded to the media” and to “put an immediate end to this witch-hunt,” in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “In a society where corruption is rampant, the law banning same sex relationships is increasingly being used for harassment, extortion and blackmail of people by law enforcement officers and other members of the public. This is unacceptable,” the human rights group added. Police said a video recording of the wedding party and alleged prohibited substances were obtained during the raid. “The venue of the illicit event was searched, and the following items were recovered at the scene: one codeine bottle, three cups of refined Canadian loud, five sachets of SK, one sachet of tramadol, four tablets of molly drug, one crusher, gay marriage ceremonial dresses,” a police statement said. The statement added that police got wind of the event after operatives on routine patrol stopped an attendee late Sunday. “He had claimed to be an actor, the statement said. “Upon interrogation, he confessed that he is a member of a certain gay club and that he was on his way to join his fellow members for a gay marriage ceremony,” the statement said. This latest arrest comes five years after 57 men accused of homosexuality were arrested during a police raid on a hotel in Lagos in 2018. According to our latest report, a court in Warri, Delta state, ruled on Tuesday that those being held would be freed after each posting 500,000 naira (£520) bail. State prosecutors opposed the move. The detainees, who did not appear in court, were also ordered to sign a register once a month until their next hearing, according to their lawyer Ochuko Ohimor. The arrests happened after a tip-off in a police interrogation of someone who allegedly knew about the event, police said. Officers stormed a hotel in Ekpan where the alleged gay wedding was being held and initially arrested 200 people. Police spokesman Edafe Bright said at the time: “The policemen chased and arrested… suspects both male and female for allegedly conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony.” The spokesman added that homosexuality “will never be tolerated” in Nigeria. Amnesty International’s Nigeria office condemned the arrests and called for “an immediate end to this witch hunt”.