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An Islamic court in northern Nigeria sentenced four men 15 lashes each after confessing to having gay sex four years ago.
They were also fined 20,000 naira ($121), according to the Shariah court’s ruling yesterday in Bauchi, about 250 miles (402 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Abuja, court records show.
“There was no direct evidence from the prosecution side that established the guilt of the accused persons committing the offense at the time of their arrest,” Judge El Yakub Aliyu said. The conviction was “based on their confessional statements,” he said.
Three other men have already been convicted of sodomy by Shariah courts in Bauchi this year. The most recent case was a 20-year-old man who was sentenced to 20 lashes in January.
Gay sex has been illegal in Nigeria since before its independence from the U.K. in 1960. In January, President Goodluck Jonathan signed a law banning gay groups, mandating 14 years in jail for same-sex couples who live together, and 10 years for people who make a “public show of same-sex amorous relationships.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the law infringed on human rights, while a spokesman for Jonathan said the measures were consistent with the West African country’s beliefs.
Nigeria’s population of about 170 million is roughly divided between Muslims, who live mainly in the north, and southern Christians.
Bloomberg
