When district head bared fangs against Abuja gays
From MAGNUS EZE, Abuja
The District Head of Jiwa, (Hakimi Jiwa), in the Gwagwa ward of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi, is not mincing word that he is at war with gays. His mission is to stop such practice in his domain.
And he is beating his chest that he has achieved exactly that: “For me, there is no hiding place for those indulging in sexual perversion within the Jiwa Chiefdom again. The traditional institution and security agencies are determined to deal with such perverts.”
The Hakimi Jiwa, spoke on the heels of the February 6, 2016, foiled gay wedding in the community by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.
An hotel, (name witheld), was hosting the absurdity choreographed for a weird couple, Ibrahim (husband) and Umar (wife), both from Kaduna State, when the police acting on a tip-off stormed the venue and arrested over 20 persons involved in the ceremony including the “couple” and the hotel manager.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Anjuguri Manzah, said they acted based on the provisions of the Same Sex Prohibition Act signed into law in 2013.
Six months after the abominable incident, the district head said the Jiwa community would no longer condone such sexual perversion that gives it a bad name. He told Daily Sun that the Chief of Jiwa (Seriki), Dr. Musa Idris, on getting wind of what was going on in the hotel alerted the security agencies and ensured that the ceremony was thwarted.
Abdullahi could not however, say whether the police eventually prosecuted the culprits in accordance with the law. Reminded that the hotel had hosted the gay club’s yearly party for six years running; the Hakimi said:
“The last party was the only party that we were aware of here. That was the party that gave us the information that something was happening in the hotel, and without wasting time we had to try our best possible to see that we did something.
“Thank God our Emir is not somebody who will sit down and fold his arms watching things going wrong or overlook something that is wrong. He immediately took the appropriate measure to see that something was done and by God’s grace, I don’t think they will come to the hotel for such party again. I am sure that because of our own arrangements here, and with the security report, they cannot even fix their party in Jiwa again.”
Daily Sun had reported that the organisers of the gay party aside paying for 33 rooms in the hotel also allegedly gave extra N20,000 to the manager to provide security for the event. But the debunked the claim: “You see, they were doing this thing even before I came to that hotel. Anytime they wanted to do it, I would always ask them to go and get permission from the police. In fact, I don’t know why this one was different.
“Everybody knows these people, some of them behave like women, but if they are doing gay something I don’t know. Last year, the same people that dressed and behaved like women had party in the hotel.”
Before the law
Parts of the Same Sex Prohibition Act (2013) states: “A marriage contract or civil union entered into between persons of same-sex: (a) is prohibited in Nigeria; and (b) shall not be recognised as entitled to the benefits of a valid marriage.
“A person who enters into a same-sex marriage contract or civil union commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of 14 years imprisonment.”
Nigeria is among 38 African countries, which outlaw same-sex marriage.
Shockingly, the FCT Command could not ascertain what eventually happened to the culprits after the initial fuse displayed by the law enforcement agency.
When contacted, Manzah, who had assured that the couple and other persons involved in the ceremony would be charged to court, said he did not know the outcome but promised to find out and get back to Daily Sun. This he failed to do at the weekend when he was contacted again.
Meanwhile, the hotel still looked worn and deserted when as at Thursday night. It was gathered that the management put some security measures in place including not allowing non-guests to sit at the reception. Even as there were no guests, more than 20 vehicles were parked in the premises. But on inquiry, they were said to belong to residents of a section of the hotel rented out by the owners.
A lady bar attendant, who gave her name as Amina, complained of low patronage, but said the bar comes alive only during the weekend when people come to watch European football league matches: “The condition is that you must buy something before you watch matches here.”