A presidential hopeful in Nigeria has said he would “not criminalise” queer people.
Homosexuality is illegal in the country, with those convicted of having gay sex facing up to 14 years in prison – apart from in 12 northern states with Sharia law, where they are stoned to death.
On Sunday (August 26), police raided a hotel in Lagos and arrested 57 men on suspicion of having gay sex, just weeks after six men in the south-eastern state of Abia were arrested for the same reason.
But Donald Duke, one of ten candidates running to become President in next year’s election, has said he intends to decriminalise homosexuality and would have a gay minister in his cabinet – as long as they stayed in the closet.
The former governor of Cross Rivers State, in south Nigeria, made the comments on a YouTube show called On The Couch, where he told the hosts, unprompted: “I want to talk about gender – I’m going to be taking questions on gay rights.
“I don’t understand it because I’m straight. I don’t understand the emotional feelings a gay person, for instance, would have of their sexuality. I don’t understand it. But I would not criminalise them. I would ensure that they have the protection of the law.”
But he added that “if they want to exhibit their sexuality, that is an affront on the norms of the society, the current norms.”
One of the anchors, rapper Falz, asked him what he meant by “exhibit their sexuality.” Read more via PinkNews