Following the recent anti-gay bill signed in by the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, a lot of mixed reactions have been noted.
Openly gay Nigerians have also come out to speak on the matter, sharing their fears, opinions and worries regarding the new law that criminalizes homosexual practices.
A human rights activist has also given an insight on what the law entails to gay Nigerians in his interview with CNN’s Vladimir Duthiers.
See Video for more.

Leading western countries piled pressure on the Federal government, yesterday, following President Goodluck Jonathan’s signing of the Same-Sex Prohibition Act 2014.
The latest country is the United States of America, whose Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle threatened that  the United States will scale down its support for HIV/AIDS and anti-malaria programmes in response to the Federal Government’s position on the gay rights issue.
Member countries of the European Union and Canada have expressed their objection to the law but United States Ambassador to Nigeria said he was worried about “the implications of the anti-same sex marriage law which seems to restrict the fundamental rights of a section of the Nigerian population.”
This came as a former Nigerian Ambassador to US, Dahiru Suleiman, yesterday, described homosexuality and lesbianism as “animalistic and degrading to humanity.”
Also yesterday Christians in the northern part of Nigeria under the aegis of Christian Association of Nigeria in the 19 northern states an Abuja,  hailed President Goodluck Jonathan for signing into law the anti-gay bill, urging him to ignore criticisms from Western nations, saying all religions in the country are united in their condemnation of same-sex marriage.
In a reaction to the recent move of government to outlaw homosexuality from this country, the Public Relations Officer of Northern CAN, Elder Sunday Oibe told Vanguard that Christians from the North and their counterparts in other religions have unanimously expressed gratitude to the president and the National Assembly for passing the Anti-Same Sex Marriage despite opposition from Europe and the US.
Speaking to news men in Abuja, yesterday, the American envoy said his interpretation of the new law was that “it could negatively affect the nation’s fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic”. Although the US envoy denied that his country plans to impose sanctions on Nigeria, he said:  “We and other donors are looking at the issue of funding for HIV/AIDS. As you know, we put millions of dollars in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“Although I am not a lawyer, I read the bill and it seems to me that it may put some restrictions on what we can do to help fight HIV/AIDS in this country. These are the issues we are looking at as we consider the law.”
The signing of the Same sex Prohibition Act by President Jonathan on January 7, 2014 has provoked negative reactions from member countries of EU, Canada and now the United States all of whom have alleged that the law is a violation of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians with same sex orientation.
Ambassador Entwistle said  he was aware that “the issue of same-sex marriage was very controversial all over the world, including within  the United States where 17 states out of 50 had endorsed it, but others still reject its legality”. According to him, “the issue that we see and I am speaking as a friend of Nigeria is that as I read the bill, it looks to me that it puts significant restrictions on the freedoms of assembly and expression; in my opinion which applies especially in advanced democracies, once government begins to say something in these areas, freedom no longer applies. It seems to me that this is a very worrisome precedent.”

A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili has said her religious inclination will never make her support gay lifestyle though she is against the new law by President Goodluck Jonathan on same-sex marriage.

In a series of tweets this morning, Ezekwesili said:
“I am not one bit ashamed of my strong spiritual belief in the gospel of Jesus.I strive to live by the Word of God & wish everyone would too. My Bible-the Word of God states clearly in Leviticus 18v22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 continues … “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans 1v26-27 there is explicit denunciation …”
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another. Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their errors.
Those Biblical texts are the reason that I, an evangelical Christian can never support the gay lifestyle… On the new law however, I differ. Every law must pass the test of CERTAINTY…..the law must be certain, in that it is clear & precise, & its legal implications foreseeable.
We know how very improbable it would be for CERTAINTY to be always established in our society in the interpretation of this law by people.Imagine the unintended consequences in a society already given to mob action when a law is not clear& precise… Too costly for everyone”.

This Monday, the news of Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan signing the “anti-gay” Bill hit the Internet. The development provoked both praise and outrage expressed by various world nations. On Tuesday, dozens of homosexual individuals were arrested in our country and now are facing up-to-14-years jail sentences. 
The current law has been in the offing for about eight years, since it was first proposed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s cabinet back in 2006.
The Nigerian LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community is mortified with the new law.
Apart from banning same-sex unions, the law also prohibits any activities related to gay clubs, societies, organisations, and/or public show of same-sex “amorous relationship”. Furthermore, just showing support for “the registration, operation and sustence of gay clubs, societies and organisations, processions or meetings in Nigeria” also could mean imprisonment.
This passage makes it very difficult for HIV-awareness groups to operate in Nigeria, and the local LGBT community fears it will no longer have access to health care.
According to Ojiyoma, “it’s a very common occurrence” that gays are stoned, adding that it’s “not being recorded down because these things happen in small communities.”
Arrests
Michael Ighodaro, a former Nigerian activist who, like Dennis Ojiyoma, currently resides in the USA, narrates:
According to Michael, the process works like a plea deal: someone is arrested and charged with a crime, and in order to make a better deal with the police, he agrees to help track down other gay men.
A Nigerian raid on an LGBT group generally goes something like this, according to the account of Obinna Asiegbu, another local activist, who experienced one himself a few months ago: “The party was going on well without any disturbance until the Hisbaah Commission, otherwise known as the Islamic Police, surrounded the vicinity arresting gays and non-gays alike.
Dennis Ojiyoma had a similar experience a few years ago when he was arrested under the sodomy law. A friend of his had been arrested and made a deal with the police to help arrest others.
After being arrested, Dennis was held in a prison for four days with no food or water. He says he was tortured, beaten up and told to give up a list of people that he thought were gay. He said he worked in a hospital and didn’t ask people of their sexual orientation.
Whatever the case, Williams Rashidi maintains that civil disobedience is the way forward, saying, “We would not pack up and for the sake of this law stop social activities.”

On Monday, Nigeria provoked international outrage after President Goodluck Jonathan ratified a bill outlawing gay marriage and same-sex unions under threat of imprisonment.
Under the new law, anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage or civil union can be sentenced to 14 years in prison while any such partnerships entered into abroad are deemed “void”. It also warns that anyone who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations or who directly or indirectly makes a public show of a same-sex relationship will break the law.
“Only a marriage contract between a man and a woman shall be recognised as valid in Nigeria,” the law states.
U.S. reaction
United States Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. were “deeply concerned” with the development, as the new law “dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association and expression for all Nigerians”. The act, according to Mr. Kerry, is “inconsistent with Nigeria’s international legal obligations and undermines the democratic reforms and human rights protections enshrined in its 1999 constitution”.
“People everywhere deserve to live in freedom and equality. No one should face violence or discrimination for who they are or who they love,” the U.S. Secretary added.
UK reaction
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In Britain, the news was met with equal disapproval, with gay rights campaigners describing the new law as “one of the world’s most homophobic laws,” while advocacy groups called it “tragic” and a backward step in the fight for equality.
Amnesty International
Nigeria is one of 38 African countries — about 70 per cent of the continent — that have laws persecuting gay people, according to Amnesty International. The organization had urged President Jonathan to reject the bill, calling it “discriminatory” and warning of “catastrophic” consequences for Nigeria’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Nigeria replies
Jonathan’s spokesman Reuben Abati dismissed global concerns, saying the law was consistent with the attitudes of most people towards homosexuality. “More than 90 percent of Nigerians are opposed to same sex marriage. So, the law is in line with our cultural and religious beliefs as a people,” he added. “Nigerians are pleased with it.”
Senator Domingo Obende of southern Edo state, who sponsored the bill, said he was pleased the law was now on the statute books and Jonathan’s sanction was expected. “We knew that the “President of Nigeria is a traditional human being, he’s a very moral person and a Christian, so we knew he would sign,” he added. He also warned the international community not to interfere in Nigeria’s affairs. “It’s not a law to kill anybody. It’s a corrective measure. Traditionally, culturally, morally, Nigeria does not want this.”
The rest of Africa
The new anti-gay marriage law follows similar legislation in Uganda. Homosexuality is also illegal in our eastern neighbour, Cameroon, and punishable by up to five years in prison.
Several African leaders have warned they will not be dictated to on a subject that is anathema to their culture and religion. Yahya Jammeh, the president of Gambia, has said homosexuals should be decapitated.
In June, Senegal’s president Macky Sall argued with Obama about the subject at a news conference. Sall said afterwards that other countries should refrain from imposing their values beyond their borders.
“We don’t ask the Europeans to be polygamists,” Sall said. “We like polygamy in our country, but we can’t impose it in yours. Because the people won’t understand it. They won’t accept it.”

The campaign organization of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Muhammadu Buhari, presidential aspirant from opposition, to explain his role in the events leading to the 1966 countercoup.
The spokesperson of PDP campaign organization, Femi Fani-Kayode, asked Buhari, who is All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, to respond questions on the “massacre of Igbo” in Kano in 1966 and in Asaba during the civil war.
Fani-Kayode also stated that Buhari has been asked by foreign countries to legalise gay marriage in Nigeria in exchange for their backing in the presidential election.
According to TheCable, PDP spokesperson said: “Buhari needs to answer questions about his role in the July 29, 1966 coup and the mass murder of about 300 Igbo army officers, including a serving Head of State, that took place that night.
“Secondly, there are questions to be answered about his role during the pogrom and massacre in northern Nigeria in 1966 in which no less than 100,000 innocent Igbo civilians, including women and children, were slaughtered in cold blood by mobs that were covertly armed and supported by a small handful of junior army officers.
READ ALSO: General Buhari Visits Kaduna For North-West Zonal Rally 
“Thirdly Buhari’s role during the Asaba massacre, in which hundreds of Igbo civilians were murdered for no just cause, still needs to be clarified.  It is left to Buhari to clarify these matters and tell us his role in all these events but if these grave allegations are true, they make him a prime candidate for the ICC (International Criminal Court).
“Another episode in which Buhari has questions to answer is his role in the mass murder of hundreds of people in the northern part of this country, including a number of young youth corpers who were in their prime, by Buhari’s supporters in 2011. This happened after he lost the presidential elections and after he encouraged them to go on the streets to commit violence. That deviant behaviour alone makes him a veritable candidate for the ICC.
“We are, indeed, grateful that a Dutch law firm has, indeed, filed papers to the ICC asking for General Buhari to be forcefully brought to the court to answer questions about those killings in northern Nigeria by his supporters in 2011.  The court action is appropriate and vital in light of the remarks credited to General Buhari about a year ago in which, inter alia, he said that if he were to lose the 2015 Presidential election, the ”baboon and the dog would both be soaked in blood”.
“What this means is that he intends to soak the entire nation in blood in the event that he loses the election on March 28.  He has refused to withdraw that statement and as a precursor to the violence he will again unleash on Nigeria after the Presidential election, his supporters have been stoning the convoy of President Jonathan in some parts of the north each time he goes there to campaign,” he added.
Read below his full speech:
Gentlemen of the media, Let me start by expressing the gratitude of our Campaign Organisation to all of you for the support you have been showing us since we started this journey. We invited you here today to intimate the Nigerian people, through your esteemed media organisations, about a despicable and wicked agenda that is being orchestrated by the opposition to scandalise, undermine and bring into disrepute our candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan (GCFR), his wife, the First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan, our Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison Maduekwe and other key government functionaries and members of his administration.
The special operations and intelligence wing of my Directorate has been reliably informed that the opposition is planning to air a documentary about the private lives of President Jonathan, the First Lady and the Minister of Petroleum Resources. The documentary is riddled with falsehood and it is vulgar, smutty, cheap, shameful and salacious. This initiative is being spearheaded by the entire leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is being funded and organised by two serving governors and one former governor who controls his state through his hand-picked stooge. Our response to this initiative is one of utter repugnance.
READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode Says Buhari Really Has A Dead Brain
That the opposition has degenerated to such a point that in response to legitimate questions that were raised about the record in public office of their Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and their de facto leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in two major and widely viewed documentaries, the only recourse they have, rather than answering the questions put in those documentaries, is to try to humiliate, shame and disgrace our presidential candidate by making the most baseless and scandalous accusations about his private life. The truth is that this shameful course of action will not work and we shall not be distracted. Neither will we lose any sleep over it.
We are, however, by this press conference, sending a clear signal to the three APC leaders that are funding and spearheading this initiative that it will not in any way serve the interest of their party or the interest of their Presidential candidate if they insist on treading that path or toeing that deplorable line. In the event of them insisting on treading this dangerous and dishonorable course, we reserve the right to respond fully and use all legitimate means to expose the inherent evil that these three individuals habitually and continuously manifest in both their private lives and whilst in public office. The truth is that they can say what they like about President Goodluck Jonathan, his family members and those close to him but one thing they cannot say is that, unlike one of the three individuals that is behind this disgraceful initiative, President Jonathan does not show an unhealthy interest in the affairs of little boys and he does not indulge in gross and perverse intimate acts with them in his spare time in an obscene, indecent, shameful and completely unacceptable manner.
They can say whatever they like about our candidate but, unlike one of the three individuals that are behind this reprehensible initiative, it is not President Goodluck Jonathan that ended up eloping with and eventually marrying the house girl of his former leader. They can say whatever they like about President Jonathan but it is not our President who drove his own father into political oblivion, broke the poor man’s heart and sent him to an early grave in pain, tears, defeat and shame. Presidential Jonathan did not do any of these things. It is those that have insisted on engaging in this shameful and repugnant initiative that have done these things.
They know who they are and, for now, we need not mention their names. At the appropriate time, we shall mention names and expose every aspect of the sordid life styles of these individuals and at that time the Nigerian people will judge for themselves. The second issue we want to touch on today is the shameful proposition that was made to General Muhammadu Buhari by the representatives of a number of western governments when he was in the United Kingdom for a prolonged stay. He had appealed to them for support and to get their endorsement.
He had talks with the representatives of at least four western countries. The leaders of those countries made an offer to General Muhammadu Buhari and we are reliably informed that he has put the offer under consideration. The proposition and offer was that if he was prepared to support legislation in Nigeria to allow same sex marriage and if he was prepared to repeal the anti-gay laws in Nigeria they will, in return, endorse, support and fund him, initially covertly and eventually publicly, at the right time.
Instead of outrightly rejecting these offers and spurning this proposition, to our utter shock and consternation, General Buhari apparently refused to rule it out and has put the matter under consideration. Instead of him to say NO he assured them that he would consider these two things. We believe that this is a matter that ought to be brought to the attention of the Nigerian people as a matter of urgency. The APC are so desperate to ensuring that General Buhari becomes the President of this country that they are actually prepared to consider the scrapping of all anti-gay or anti-homosexual legislations and at the same time, endorsing and supporting fresh legislation that would allow same sex marriage in our country.
READ ALSO: My Questions For Buhari – Femi Fani Kayode
They are considering this despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Nigerian people find same sex marriage and, indeed, homosexuality repugnant and unacceptable. We are using this occasion to challenge General Buhari to come clean and to tell the Nigerian people whether this is true and whether, in the unlikely event of his being elected President, he is seriously considering scrapping the anti-homosexual laws in our country and pushing through new legislation which would allow same sex marriage. The third issue is as follows. We read, with amusement, the threat by the Buhari’s Campaign Organisation through their spokesperson, Mr Garba Shehu, that it is their intention to drag the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, before the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC), for allegedly indulging in what they described as ”hate speech” at a recent rally in Rivers State.
It is pertinent to note that, first of all, if they were a little better educated and had a better understanding of international law and how the ICC works, they would appreciate the fact that no individual is ever taken to the ICC based on what he or she has said unless and until people act on those words and massacre others. It is only if that speech is followed by violence and mayhem or if it incites people to commit violence, which results in death, mass murder and crimes against humanity, that the person who indulged in such hate speech becomes an eligible candidate for the ICC.
Dame Patience Jonathan is a woman of peace. She did not threaten anyone with violence; she did not incite anyone to commit violence or to kill others and her words have not resulted in death, mass murder or any crimes against humanity. We therefore completely reject the baseless charge and assertion that she has called for the killing or slaughter of anyone at any point in time. Their threat to take the First Lady to the ICC is not only absurd but it is also nothing but the empty and boastful ranting of a perfidious, desperate, decaying and dying political party and such threat will amount to nothing. The truth is that if anybody is a candidate for the ICC, it is certainly not Dame Patience Jonathan, but rather General Muhammadu Buhari himself.
We say this because, firstly, he needs to answer questions about his role in the July 29, 1966 coup and the mass murder of about 300 Igbo army officers, including a serving Head of State, that took place that night. Secondly, there are questions to be answered about his role during the pogrom and massacre in northern Nigeria in 1966 in which no less than 100,000 innocent Igbo civilians, including women and children, were slaughtered in cold blood by mobs that were covertly armed and supported by a small handful of junior army officers.
READ ALSO: Probe Buhari’s Tie With B’Haram, MEND – Fani-Kayode
Thirdly, Buhari’s role during the Asaba massacre, in which hundreds of Igbo civilians were murdered for no just cause, still needs to be clarified. It is left to Buhari to clarify these matters and tell us his role in all these events but if these grave allegations are true, they make him a prime candidate for the ICC. Another episode in which Buhari has questions to answer is his role in the mass murder of hundreds of people in the northern part of this country, including a number of young youth corpers who were in their prime, by Buhari’s supporters in 2011. This happened after he lost the presidential elections and after he encouraged them to go on the streets to commit violence. That deviant behaviour alone makes him a veritable candidate for the ICC. We are, indeed, grateful that a Dutch law firm has, indeed, filed papers to the ICC asking for General Buhari to be forcefully brought to the court to answer questions about those killings in northern Nigeria by his supporters in 2011.
The court action is appropriate and vital in light of the remarks credited to General Buhari about a year ago in which, inter alia, he said that if he were to lose the 2015 Presidential election, the ”baboon and the dog would both be soaked in blood”. What this means is that he intends to soak the entire nation in blood in the event that he loses the election on March 28.
He has refused to withdraw that statement and as a precursor to the violence he will again unleash on Nigeria after the Presidential election, his supporters have been stoning the convoy of President Jonathan in some parts of the north each time he goes there to campaign. It is very clear that General Buhari is a violent man who has the disposition to incite people to commit mass murder and acts of violence.
We wish to take this opportunity to make it abundantly clear that if anybody is killed after the 2015 presidential election after Buhari has been defeated, we will hold him accountable and fully responsible and we will ensure that he faces the full wrath of the law. Justice will be brought to him swiftly and expeditiously.
We advise General Buhari and his Campaign Organisation to stop threatening the First Lady with the ICC and instead spend their times looking inwards and delivering themselves from their obvious blood-lust and irrational and bestial desire to inflict violence against those who do not agree with them and who they perceive as their enemies. We hereby crave your indulgence to play a clip of the brutal and blood chilling remarks made by General Buhari which ultimately triggered the orgies of violence recorded in some northern parts of the country in 2011.
READ ALSO: PDP Campaign Says Gov. Shettima Is Guilty For Chibok Girls’ Abduction
On a final note, we would like to refer you to a set of pictures published on the front page of the Leadership Newspaper edition of last Tuesday. As you can see, President Jonathan is the lead figure in both pictures, which were mischievously placed on top of one another. In the first Picture, President Jonathan is surrounded by some prominent Yoruba traditional rulers led by His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade Olubuse II. You can see that the staffs of office of the numerous traditional rulers were pointed towards the President as he sat down and whilst they prayed for him. It has been brought to our attention that the spokesperson of the APC actually sponsored that advertorial and the contents of it reflect the sheer depravity of that individual’s deep, dark, disrespectful and sinister mind.
Under the picture, they wrote; ”You cannot serve God and mammon”. Right below the caption is another picture in which President Jonathan was praying both in Israel and at the Redeemed Camp in Nigeria. The intent and implication of the pictures and the words below each of them are clear. The motive for displaying the pictures in this manner and those words is to bring not only President Jonathan but also our revered Traditional Rulers in the south west into disrepute and opprobrium. Indeed, it beats our imagination how anybody in his right senses could equate a legitimate prayer for our President in the court of the Ooni of Ife by a large number of Yoruba traditional rulers, with the worship of mammon!
It is insulting, disrespectful and totally unacceptable. We seize this opportunity to issue a stern warning to Lai Mohammed and his party to stop insulting the Traditional Rulers of the south-western part of our country. It was not too long ago that the de facto leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, described the southwest Traditional Rulers in the most uncharitable terms when he said only three of them could be taken seriously. We completely reject these insults on our Royal Fathers and we hereby call on the APC leaders to bury their heads in shame and apologise to our Traditional Rulers. We also demand an apology from Lai Muhammed for encouraging the posting of these pictures in this disgraceful manner, organising the whole thing and sponsoring the advert. If they refuse to apologise or refuse to withdraw the advert, then we take it that the APC as a party has become the enemy of every single Traditional Ruler in Yorubaland and the consequence of that will be far reaching and devastating for the fortunes of their party in the coming elections.
It should be noted that Fani-Kayode is to be known for his words attacks on APC presidential candidate.
PDP campaign spokesperson has today accused General Buhari and governor of Borno State Shettima of knowing whereabouts of Chibok girls.
FFK also said that Buhari’s endorsement by MEND, a discredited militia group, should give Nigerians and the international community great concern.
He also confirmed the words of Dame Patience Jonathan, saying that Buhari really has a dead brain.

President Muhammadu Buhari, has been urged to take a cue from the United State and cancel the same sex marriage prohibition Act of 2014.
This comes days after the Supreme Court of the United States of America finally legalised same sex marriage throughout the whole country.
In a report on Sahara Reporters, specifically aimed to attack the “Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014”, leading human rights organisations, PEN America and PEN Nigeria urged President Buhari to scrap the law as it encourages evictions, mob attacks, police torture, and public whippings against gays.
The report called for Buhari to repeal laws that legalise discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and people who are inter-sex and transgender.
READ ALSO: TB Joshua, Femi Fani Kayode React To New Gay Law
This was disclosed by the PEN Executive Director, Suzanne Nossel, in the report titled “Silenced Voices, Threatened Lives: The Impact of Nigeria’s Anti-LGBTI Law on Freedom of Expression.”
She said: “The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014 punishes gay relationships with 14 years in prison and belonging to a gay associations with 10 years in prison. It also criminalizes a failure to report homosexual activity to police which threatens the friends and families of gays living in Nigeria.
“Nigerian human rights groups have documented 105 violations against gays including assaults, mob attacks, and blackmail since the passage of the law. One case in Bauchi, an undercover police officer joined a group being counseled about AIDS pretending to be gay. He arrested the 38 men there, tortured them, and provided their names to the public, leading to a witch-hunt. Many gay people fled Bauchi as a result of this incident.
“The anti-gay law, while purporting to target same sex marriage, has infringed upon rights to free speech, access to health care, housing, and employment, interfered with civil and political rights, and led to wholesale impunity for violence against LGBTI people.
“LGBTI Nigerians cannot express their identities, write or publish about their experiences, or even advocate for their own human rights.”
She added: “The law is essentially self-enforcing, barring most challenges to its own legality as prohibited LGBTI advocacy and effectively legalizing vigilante justice against gay individuals.
“Free expression of one’s own identity and opinions is the bedrock of all human rights. Where this right is denied, all forms of personal freedom are in jeopardy—for not just the LGBTI community, but also the population at-large.”
The group also argued that the anti-gay law distracts local populations from prevalent problems like poverty, corruption, and failed education systems under the banner of “uniting in homophobia.”
Despite protests from some countries, groups and activists, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law in 2014.
Some foreign embassies were shocked by the development leading to ‘curious’ inquiries from the federal government, but despite the inquiries, the FG said there was no going back.
The bill which was passed by the Senate in November 2011, and affirmed by lawmakers in the House of Representatives on May 29, 2013.
According to former president Jonathan, the decision to pass the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014, is owing to the fact that most Nigerians were opposed to the bill, saying the parliament acted in line with the wish of the majority.

The United States government has vowed to continue to press the Nigerian government to reverse its anti-gay law.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said this during a live-web chat with journalists in Washington. Our correspondent monitored the web chat in Abuja.
Thomas-Greenfield also said that America was not bothered that Chinese companies were fast taking over the African market from their US counterparts.
President Goodluck Jonathan had on January 7, 2014 assented to the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013 which criminalises homosexuality in the country.
On January 14 when it became public that the President had signed the bill into law, the US, Canada and the European Union openly expressed reservations over the law.
Thomas-Greenfield, who said the US had adopted the  protection of the rights of same-sex people as part of its foreign policies, vowed that Washington would continue to mount and sustain pressure on Nigeria and other countries to reverse their laws against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community.
She said, “As a government, it is one of the highest priorities and strongest values that discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation and gender identity is wrong. We believe human rights should be available to everybody.
“As a policy, we will continue to press the government of Nigeria as well as other governments who have provided legislation that discriminate against the LGBT community.”
Thomas-Greenfiled, who did not agree that pressuring Nigeria to reverse the anti-gay law amounted to interference, said the country and Uganda had the hardest legislation on the gay community.
She said, “This is very much a work in progress, but I think you will agree with me that the law in Nigeria really went far in discriminating against this community but also people who associate with them.
“So we will continue to press the government, to press the legislature to change these laws and provide human rights for all Nigerian people regardless of their sexual orientation.”
She, however, did not disclose if the US would impose sanctions on the countries with anti-gay laws to achieve its objectives.
Thomas-Greenfield was optimistic that the U.S would win the fight to protect the LGBT community.
She said, “With what is happening in the US, you can determine how far we are willing to go. We strongly believe human rights for all people and we are particularly opposed to legislation that actually targets the gay community for discrimination. So we are prepared to push this as a policy not just in Africa but across the world.”

On Tuesday, the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisation (NACOMYO) have praised President Goodluck Jonathan for signing the anti-gay bill into law.
The National President of the Council Alhaji Kamal’ddin Akintunde, speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, said the organization condemns criticism by the United States and the European Union.
“Nigerians are culturally and religiously sensitive and will not tolerate anything that will undermine their religious values,” Mr. Akintunde said.
“NACOMYO commends President Goodluck Jonathan for that executive action. His action was courageous and in tandem with popular opinion of Nigerians.”
Since the bill passed according to legislative process, it therefore became imperative for the President to assent to it in line with democratic norm.
“Above all, it is against the doctrines of Islam and Christianity, which majority of Nigerians belong to,” the group leader said of homosexual practices. “How can a man marry a man? the National Assembly has done the right thing and the president did what is right by signing it into law.”
It will be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had on January 13 signed the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law, criminalising homosexuality in Nigeria.

Less than a week after President Goodluck Jonathan honoured the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, with an award for “his contributions to the nation,” the United States has ordered a freeze on $458m in assets stolen by the former dictator and his accomplices.

AFP quoted the Justice Department as saying  on Wednesday that the corruption proceeds – stashed away in bank accounts in Britain, France and Jersey – were frozen at Washington’s request with the help of local authorities.
Abacha died in office in 1998, but his surviving relatives still include some of the richest and most influential figures in Nigeria.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint unsealed in the US District Court in Washington, the department wants to recover more than $550m in connection with the action.
“This is the largest civil forfeiture action to recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption ever brought by the department,” said Mythili Raman, acting assistant attorney general.
“General Abacha was one of the most notorious kleptocrats in memory, who embezzled billions from the people of Nigeria, while millions lived in poverty,” she said.
The Justice Department said the frozen assets, along with additional assets named in the complaint, represented the “proceeds of corruption” during and after the military regime of Abacha, who became Head of State through a military coup on November 17, 1993 and held that office until his death on June 8, 1998.
The complaint alleges that Abacha; his son, Mohammed Sani Abacha; their associate, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and others “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through the purchase of bonds backed by the United States using US financial institutions.”
Raman said that the action sent a “clear message” that the United States was “determined and equipped to confiscate the ill-gotten riches of corrupt leaders who drain the resources of their countries.”
The US government’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, where appropriate, provides for the return of stolen proceeds “to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office.”
It did not specify what action would be taken with regard to the Abacha case.
The funds frozen include approximately $313m in two bank accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey and $145m in two bank accounts in France, the department said.
Four investment portfolios and three bank accounts in Britain were frozen, with an estimated value of at least $100m, but the exact amounts in the accounts have not yet been determined, it said.
The Justice Department said that on February 25 and 26, authorities in Jersey, France and Britain complied with the US action to freeze the assets.
The complaint also seeks to freeze five corporate entities registered in the British Virgin Islands.
According to the complaint, Abacha and others systematically embezzled billions of dollars in public funds from Nigeria’s central bank on the false pretence that the funds were necessary for national security.
They withdrew the funds in cash and then moved the money overseas through US financial institutions.
Abacha and his Finance minister, Anthony Ani, also allegedly caused the government to buy Nigerian government bonds at vastly inflated prices from a company controlled by Bagudu and Mohammed Abacha. That operation created an illegal windfall of more than $282m.
In addition, Abacha and his co-conspirators allegedly extorted more than $11m from a French civil engineering company, Dumez, and its Nigerian affiliate in connection with payments on government contracts.
Funds involved in each of these schemes were laundered through the US in nine financial institutions, the complaint alleged.
The financial institutions involved include Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, now JPMorgan Chase, and New York-based units of Britain’s Barclays Bank and Germany’s Commerzbank.

With less than three weeks to the all important general elections held next month across Nigeria, there are conflicting reports that the son of late head of state, Mohammed Abacha, may have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It will be recalled that the junior Abacha was one of the aggrieved gubernatorial aspirants of the PDP in Kano State.
Reports surfaced at the weekend that Abacha and some leaders of the APC at the national level met in Abuja in an effort to smooth his planned defection to the opposition party.
However, the Daily Trust newspaper reports online on January 26, 2015, that Abacha, in a telephone interview conducted on Sunday, denied defecting from the PDP to the APC.
According to the report, he stated that he remained a loyal and committed member of the PDP, adding that he would remain in the PDP no matter the challenge.
“People have been calling to confirm the veracity of the report that I have decamped to APC. It is not true. I’m in PDP and will remain there Insha Allah. Rumour mongering is one of the ills hindering our political development in this country but unfortunately, it has become part of us in this county,” he said.
Meanwhile, the son of the late head of state expressed dismay over the conduct of the PDP governorship primaries in Kano State, saying the selection of the party delegates was carried out in violation of the party’s constitution.
“We asked our party’s leadership to correct the anomaly in the selection process to avoid litigation after the poll. If our party wins election, our opponent can take us to court.
“To avoid this, we appeal for correction of the irregularities. Somebody has gone to court to seek redress on the irregularity and I won’t want to pre-empt the judgement but what I can say is that we are all waiting for the outcome of the case,” he said.
It will be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan last month met behind closed-doors with Mohammed Abacha.

For a while now, not much has been heard of former first lady, Maryam Abacha.
In this new photo of the widow of Sani Abacha, a former dictatorial President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998, Mariam is spotted with her billionaire Cameroonian son-in-law, Mohamadou Bayero Fadil. Mohamadou is married to Gumsu Abacha.
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See the photo below:

Recall that after the death of Sani Abacha in June 1998, Maryam Abacha attempted to leave Nigeria with suitcases filled with money. She was arrested, placed on 24-hour surveillance, and banned from leaving Nigeria.
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In 1999 Maryam Abacha said that her husband acted in the good will of Nigeria; an official of the Nigerian government said that Maryam Abacha said that to convince the government to grant her a reprieve, as the president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had been jailed by Sani Abacha. As of 2000 Maryam Abacha remained in Nigeria. Maryam and Sani Abacha had three daughters and six sons. Maryam Abacha’s eldest surviving son is Mohammed Abacha.

The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Hans Rudolf Hodel, in a meeting with the President elect, Muhammadu Buhari, disclosed that about $370million recovered from former head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha, has been traced by the Swiss government to a Luxembourg account.
The ambassador also revealed to Buhari that Nigerians ferrying money to Switzerland will now have to prove that such wealth is acquired legally before they are allowed to lodge such in the European nation’s banks.
Hodel said in the past the banks only needed to prove that the money deposited with them are legal money, adding that situations Switzerland has changed with depositors now needing to prove that they acquired the money legally before they will be allowed to deposit money in any bank in that country.
He said that collaboration between the Nigeria government and its Swiss counterpart in fighting corruption is a long standing issue, adding “our laws are there to help all countries fighting corruption. We will help this government.
“If you remember, many years ago, we gave back the Abacha money to Nigeria. The situation in Switzerland has changed. The policy is no longer the same. In the past, people come to deposit money in Switzerland without too much controversy. Now, it is not possible to deposit money in Switzerland because of legal origin.
“Before now, the bank has to prove that the money is legal. But now, before you deposit money in any Swiss bank, you have to prove that you have earned that money legally.
“If you are a wealthy businessman, you have money in billions legally, but if, for example as a journalist, you come to Switzerland with two million dollars and say you earned it because you did a very good job, nobody will believe you.”
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The Ambassador said the Nigerian government and the Abacha family have sought legal assistance from the Swiss government to enable them retrieve the money, pointing out that Swiss government has offered the legal assistance.
He said further that his government is directly involved since the money is not in a Swiss bank.
On what he discussed with Buhari, he said “Even if the relation is perfect there is always room for improvement. Investors are looking towards Nigeria and it is a good example Nigeria gave to the world by its peaceful election.
“I congratulate the President -elect for this fantastic election and indeed the whole Nigeria people which has shown the world what they are capable of doing and with this election Nigeria has become an example not only to Africa but to the whole world on how election can be conducted.”
During Abacha’s regime, he and his family reportedly stole a total of £5 billion from the country’s coffers. In 2004, Abacha was listed as the fourth most corrupt leader in history.
Abacha served as the de facto Presidentof Nigeria from 1993 to his death in 1998.

A picture of former military ruler, Gen Sani Abacha with former Palestine leader, Yasser Arafat taken on Sunday, June 7, 1998, a day before he died on June 8, 1998 has gone viral. Abacha died while at the presidential villa in Abuja. He was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition, without an autopsy.
This led to speculation that he may have been executed extra judicially by way of being poisoned by political rivals via prostitutes.
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The government identified the cause of death as a sudden heart attack. It is reported that he was in the company of two Indian prostitutes imported from Dubai. It is thought that the prostitutes laced his drink with a poisonous substance, making Abacha feel unwell around 4:30am. He retired to his bed and was dead by 6:15am. It was recently revealed that a new loot of $370 million has been traced to the former Military Head of State, late Sani Abacha in Luxembourg.