Nigerian police raid gay wedding in Kano

19 Muslims were detained by the Islamic police force in the largest city in northern Nigeria on suspicion of attending a gay wedding.

According to the force’s spokesman Lawal Ibrahim Fagge, a tip-off led to the raid on the wedding in Kano.

He claimed that the pair, who had not yet exchanged vows, had managed to escape and that police were looking for them.

With a predominance of Muslims, Kano has both a secular legal system and an Islamic one.

In Nigeria as a whole, where residents of the north are predominately Muslims and those of the south are predominately Christians, homosexual activities are prohibited by both legal systems.

The Hisbah, a well-known Islamic police agency in Kano, upholds a rigid moral code.

The police did not aim to penalize the 15 male and 4 female wedding guests who were detained during the Sunday raid, according to Mr. Fagge, who spoke to the Media.

Instead, the group – which he said included gay people and cross-dressers – was undergoing “counselling”, and their parents or guardians had been urged to come forward.

“We’ll explore the avenue of change before we charge them in court. First we counsel them, and involve the parents and we hope they change their lifestyle,” the Hisbah spokesman said.

Islamic courts in Kano have never found anyone guilty of being gay.

According to Mr. Fagge, 18 attendees of a comparable wedding ceremony last year who signed a document promising to “alter their lifestyle” were freed.

Gay rights advocates in Nigeria have long fought for their rights, but there is fierce hostility in a nation where many Muslims and Christians follow traditional religious beliefs.

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