Dozens More Detained, Arrested Due to Nigeria's New Anti-Gay Laws
No longer confined to Muslim-dominated parts of country
Arrests have spread across Nigeria as dozens more people perceived to be gay have been rounded up and questioned, activists said Friday, describing another wave of police attention unleashed by a wide-ranging new anti-gay law.
In the last few days, more than 30 people have been arrested, with an increasing number coming from the west African country's Christian southern states. Until Goodluck Jonathan signed the law more than a week ago, prosecution of gay people had largely been centered on the predominantly Muslim north, where gays have long been punished under Shariah law.
"The arrests are all over. It's no longer just in the north," said Ifeanyi Kelly Orazulike, executive director of the Nigeria-based International Center for Advocacy on Right to Health. "Police are not telling us what the charges are, and people are scared."