Nigeria: Mob Beats and Humiliates Men Over Homosexuality Claims

Disturbing social media videos have revealed four young men being beaten and degraded by a mob in the Nigerian city of Benin, highlighting the social impact of discriminatory and dehumanising laws that criminalise same-sex intimacy.

It is alleged that the men were targeted after reportedly being caught engaging in sexual activity, which could see them facing 14 years in prison.

The videos, posted online around 16 November, show the four men paraded through the streets in their underwear while onlookers jeer and record the incident.

In one clip, the mob is seen taking the law into their own hands and holding the men down and beating them one by one with a large stick, eliciting screams of pain.

Another video shows the victims, now dressed and carrying bags, being forced into a small vehicle as the mob continues to shout at them and occasionally strike out. According to GistMedia, the men were “banished for life” from their community.

The footage, in which the men’s faces are clearly visible, has gone viral, exposing the victims to further potential violence, discrimination, and the risk of arrest.

Screenshots of messages allegedly from one of the victims show him denying that he is gay and pleading with the public to stop sharing the videos.

Samson Mikel, a Nigerian LGBTQ+ activist, told the Washington Blade: “The people in Benin are never concerned about these other crimes or how the government is impoverishing them, but will light gay men on fire the moment they think.”

Speaking about the victims, Mikel added: “All they want is to live and experience love. They are not the cause of the economic meltdown in the country, neither are they the reason why there are no jobs in the streets of Nigeria.”

Public shaming of LGBTIQ+ individuals is not uncommon in Nigeria, both by communities and the authorities. Police often parade individuals arrested under homosexuality charges in front of the media.

LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria are also targeted by criminals on dating apps and social media platforms through fake profiles. In some instances, the police themselves reportedly use these apps to blackmail queer individuals with threats of arrest and prosecution.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, enforces some of the harshest anti-LGBTIQ+ laws in the world. Rooted in colonial-era legislation, these laws impose a 14-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of consensual homosexual acts. In the country’s 12 states that have introduced Sharia law, same-sex sexual relations can be punishable by death 

The Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, enacted in 2014, further criminalises same-sex marriages and relationships, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison. Public displays of same-sex affection or involvement in LGBTIQ+ organisations can result in 10 years of imprisonment.