Twenty-one young men under the age of 25 have been arrested
in Nigeria for being in a 'gay cult'.The young men, who were caught with 122
condoms between them, were held in an Ibadan police station last week.
According to Gaystar news,when police flooded
the house, the officers accused them of holding an 'initiation' ceremony into
their 'evil' group.
They had no formal charge against them, but
relied on the presence of the condoms with no female present. They also claimed
they received a tip saying the occupants of the room were gay.
The organizer of the event told officials that
it was actually just a birthday party and they had nothing to do with any
'cult'.
All 21 were immediately taken into the police
station.Human rights organization The Initiative for Equal
Rights(TIER) received a call on 10 May and
immediately started helping the young men.
A spokesperson said:
'At the point of arrest, the young men were physically
assaulted and treated in a manner unbecoming of any legal process: they were
photographed in their underwear, made to write statements under duress and
locked up in an overcrowded cell.'
While the police wished to
refuse bail and transfer the case to the state courts, a lawyer from the International Center for
Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights (INCRESE) managed to allow them to pay
for their freedom.
The individuals were given varying bail
notices, from 5,000 Nigerian naira ($25, €22) to 10,000 naira ($50, €44). The
organizer of the party had to pay 21,000 Nigerian naira ($105, €92).
They did not want to appeal against their
treatment in case it would lead them to being outed and branded as gay.
While 11 had family and friends to bail them out, 10 were left in
detention.
When all 21 returned to the police station on
Thursday (14 May), it was alleged the police further extorted more money from
each of them before they were allowed to leave.
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