The Independent has reported that a man in Northern Nigeria has been given 20 lashes for a single homosexual act when he was a child.
Twenty year old Mubarak Ibrahim confessed to taking part in a homosexual act, that in a Western country would be considered child abuse, when he was 13 years old. The unemployed artisan told the court he was tricked by his High School Principal into participating in an act of sodomy.
Judge Nuhu Mohammed told the court that Mr Ibrahim would be spared from being stoned to death because he had shown great remorse.
Earlier this week Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (pictured) passed a law that outlawed gay marriage, organisations and supplying services to gay people.
The new laws carry a jail sentence of 14 years. Homosexuality was already outlawed in the country. In the North of the country police quickly began detaining suspected gay people and in court they have been subject to Islamic Sharia law.
Ibrahim is one of twelve men who had been arrested in the country’s north accused of being part of a gay club. Dorothy Aken’Ova, a human rights activist has said four of the men arrested had been tortured into providing a list of 168 gay men. The region’s Police Chief has denied that torture was used but has confirmed they are searching for more members of the gay club.
Read More: Gay Men Arrested Under Nigeria’s New Anti-Gay Law
OIP Staff
