In a shocking turn of events, a community Agbiligba Nanka in Anambra State has banished a young man due to a taboo. The incident has left the family and community outraged happened on the eve of 28th of October, 2023.
26-year-old Oluebube Uzochukwu Okeke was banished after he was accused of bisexuality which is a taboo in the village and a crime in Nigeria with 14 years Imprisonment.
Speaking on the incident, an elder of the village who begged to remain anonymous stated that such practice which is foreign to the people cannot be allowed in their community.
“No matter how the law states it in foreign lands, it is against our culture and practice. It is against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are guided by what we were handed over by our fore fathers.”
Speaking further, he claimed that Oluebube is generally possessed as such practice cannot be found in the family. He urged the family to perform some sacrifices to beg the ancestors to restore their son to normalcy.
But when Newsleverage contacted Oluebube, he revealed that his sexuality has been a bone of contention in his family especially his father who is a well-respected titled man in the village.
He stated having lived in perpetual fear of his life being cut short either by relatives or worse from eager Nigerians who abhor such types of relationships in society.
“My life has been quite a journey. Starting from the constant beating I received from my father who saw it more as a failure on his part to produce a well-structured offspring to schoolmates who hated my existence. I lived in constant fear.
“Among my siblings, I am the only person that’s bisexual. In the course of any beating, my mother always comes to my rescue but unfortunately, I lost her to the cold hands of death on the 5th of August 2023. I took to the heels because I knew that I had no one who would defend me and so, was unable to attend the funeral of my mother.
“My decision to leave the country came when some countrymen almost lynched me at a football viewing centre during a football banter, I mentioned my preferred sexual partner. It turned into an uproar and I was sneaked out of the venue. That was when I understood that my life was in danger. I decided to leave as the country was no longer safe for people with sexuality like mine, especially with the arrest of gay men who attended a wedding ceremony of a member in October 2023 in Delta State.”
He stated that he didn’t want to join the league of people who were persecuted for committing no crime but having a different sexual urge than what most people counted as normal.
“I knew that being myself would lead to my death. I couldn’t express myself nor could I be who I wanted to be. I watched what I said, who I said it to and my back at all times. My mental health was affected and I could no longer concentrate.”
Since the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill was signed into law on January 7, 2014, by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, there have many been arrests of people suspected to be gay in Delta, Gombe, and Lagos amongst others.
About 76 persons were arrested in Gombe State with a publicised media trial even though Nigerian Law prohibits showing the identity of a criminal until proven guilty.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said its personnel arrested people who organised a gay wedding but the suspects objected and stated that it was only a birthday party.
“There was no wedding, only birthday,” he said in a broadcast aired by local media.”
Contributing, the Director of Human Rights Watch in 2014 on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights, Graeme Reid, said the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill Imposes a 14-year imprisonment on anyone who “[enters] into a same-sex marriage contract or civil union,” and a 10-year sentence on individuals or groups, including religious leaders, who “witness, abet, and aid the solemnization of a same-sex marriage or union.”
It imposes a 10-year prison sentence on those who “directly or indirectly make [a] public show of [a] same-sex amorous relationship” and anyone who “registers, operates, or participates in gay clubs, societies, and organizations,” including supporters of those groups.
“This law criminalizes the lives of gay and lesbian people, but the damage it would cause extends to every single Nigerian,”
“It undermines basic universal freedoms that Nigerians have long fought to defend and is a throwback to past decades under military rule when civil rights were treated with contempt.”
