Hello everyone! Welcome to our tweet chat 'Police Brutality Against LGBT+ Persons in Nigeria'. We hope you’ll keep up with the conversation by following this thread and quote tweeting with your comments or questions. #EndSARS #QueerNigerianLivesMatter
For years, we have recorded in our annual human rights violations reports how police officers and other state actors harass, assault and extort real or perceived queer folks. You can find the reports at theinitiativeforequalrights.org/resources
In a soon to be released report about the effects of Covid-19 on LGBT+ Nigerians, we found that since March, there have been higher levels of extortion and blackmail of gay, lesbian and bisexual people across many states in Nigeria by officers of the Nigerian Police Force.
A pattern also emerged where police officers would stop anybody who fit their profile of being ‘gay’, question them and search their devices. Once they find anything that points to their sexuality, they arrest, threaten, assault and extort them.
They then coerce them through torture and blackmail to reveal the identities of their queer friends or partners. When they get this information, they either lure such persons or raid their homes and arrest, threaten, assault and extort them as well.
Queer protesters joined the #EndSARS protests across the country to raise awareness to the specific violence queer folks face in the hands of the Nigerian Police. In Abuja, queer protesters were harassed by their fellow protesters. This is wrong.
Today we have @O_Makanjuola as a guest to shed more light on police brutality against LGBT+ Nigerians. Olumide is a Sexual Health and Rights advocate with a specific interest in LGBTQI rights and conversations, movement building, and capacity development for the movement.
His work focuses on expanding public knowledge and discourse on queer issues through alternative narratives and public advocacy and education. Olumide worked at The Initiative for Equal Rights for 12 years and served as the executive director from 2012 – 2018.
Welcome Olumide @O_Makanjuola and thank you for joining us. I’ll go right into it with my first question. What are some ways that the Nigerian police harass and violate real or perceived members of the LGBT community?
Follow the conversation
https://twitter.com/O_Makanjuola/status/1317467154661462020
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