Witness no-show delays Nigeria gay trial

The trial of 47 Nigerian men charged with homosexuality was delayed again in Lagos, Wednesday .

Accusers failed to produce a witness who was said to be abroad. The case was postponed to March 3.

“There is something called the proof of evidence, which they were supposed to give. What they thought they gave us as proof of evidence was not proof of evidence, which we pointed out twice. Yesterday they offered to give us the proof of evidence, which in this case must include the list of the witnesses, which we do not have. And the summary of the witness statements, which we don’t have. That has not been given to us. In fact, they probably don’t have anything at all”, Defence Attorney, Israel Obi said.

I am so sad today. I thought that today would be the end of our case..

One of the accused Kojo is unhappy about the development.

“I am so sad today. I thought that today would be the end of our case. But when they postponed the case to the 3rd of March, I am not happy. Because, they have no evidence against us. We did not do anything bad. We need to come to court, every time, transport, work … I cannot work”, he said.

The men, who were arrested in a Lagos hotel during a police raid in August 2018, have pleaded not guilty in the case before the Federal High Court.

Homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in jail in Africa’s most populous nation.

A law passed in 2014 prohibits gay marriage and same sex cohabitation.

AFP