Gay Party Arrest: 40 out of 42 gays test positive to HIV Virus

This is a piece of information that would alarm members of the public––that 40 young men recently arrested in Lagos for homosexuality have tested HIV-positive and now roam freely in the society as a result of the bail granted them by a magistrate court. 


The grim reality and the consequential catastrophe that could arise from such scenario is accentuated by two facts. One, the individuals are not the average citizens. They are gay. Two, in the light of their knowledge of their precarious health situation, there is a propensity among some of them to suddenly go on an infection-spree mission––most disturbingly, the easiest thing for the malicious ones to do.
 

The disturbing dimension of the fact is that these sex poachers are on an active recruitment drive. Worse still, they have constituted themselves into a club of committed homosexuals drawn from far and near.

Arrested and remanded, their case had quickly become a can of worms for the handling authorities. The prison authority hastily flushed them out of the facility to avert a likely HIV epidemic were they to stay for a further length of time––though not fast enough, for during the brief spell, one of them had sex with an inmate!

The court too went soft on them by ‘watering’ down the bail condition––for an offence that is one of the gravest in the country’s criminal code.  Now free, as you read this page, that they could be infecting new persons by the day is not far-fetched.

As disturbing as the narrative may sound, it is a story that is currently unravelling in Lagos State. It started with the apprehending of 40 suspected homosexuals who were arraigned and were to be remanded but had to go through mandatory HIV test in Kirikiri Prison. The result of the test was the shocking discovery that nearly all of them were infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

The arrest and the sequel

Weeks back, policemen from the Lagos State Command raided a hotel in Ketu area of the state where several young men and minors suspected to be homosexuals were having their meeting. They were arraigned at the Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court and the Yaba Magistrate Court in Lagos, for allegedly engaging in homosexuality, which is a crime in Nigeria.

The adults amongst them were identified as Adedayo Kamadupe, Abiodun Pedro, Ikechukwu Onyebuchi and Dike Stanley. Others are Oji Charles Isioma, Garuba Ibrahim, Monday Favour, Ayo Marcus Ayobamidele and Stanley Adeasbo.  Victor Isaac, Godwin Williams, Kashimawo Oluwatosin, Abass Tajudeen, Olamigoke Adeola and Yussuf Fawaz are also among the suspects.

Others are Johnson Michael, Francis Michael, Samuel Adeyinka, Samuel Collins, Kazeem Akorede, Adebayo Bukola, Ochiagha Ifeanyi, Babatunde Taiwo, Raphael Dugh, Kenneth Ubaji, Alisi Ferdinand Okechukwu, Malik Ahmed and Olamide Adeola.

According to the criminal charge, the defendants were said to have “On or about July 29, 2017, at Vintage Hotel, No. 999 Ikorodu Road/Toyin Close, Weigh Bridge, Owode Onirin, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did engage in gay activities by permitting male persons to have carnal knowledge of themselves against the order of nature and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

The prosecution team led by Ms Adetutu Oshinusi from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), Lagos State Ministry of Justice reportedly did not oppose their bail application but urged the Court to direct the defendants to submit themselves to the Lagos State Aids Control Agency (LSACA) for monitoring and Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) for rehabilitation.

The Magistrate also granted the request of the prosecution demanding monitoring and sexual rehabilitation for the defendants, while the matter was adjourned to September 8, 2017.

In line with that order, Saturday Sun learnt that the suspects were returned back to the police station where they would be detained while they perfect their bail.

Also, a non-governmental organization was said to have provided counseling for the suspects and a compulsory HIV test was conducted. They got the shock of their lives when it was allegedly discovered that 99 percent of the suspects tested positive and some of them were already in an advanced stage. Some of them were already breaking down due to lack of medication.

Treading carefully

At Panti where the matter was transferred to, Saturday Sun learnt that most of them have been released on bail.

According to our police source, some of them were minors and court ordered that they should be sent to a juvenile home in the state. “These boys are from different states in Nigeria and they assembled for a get-together. It became important that they are released on bail when we realised that they were infected with HIV. “Secondly, we considered that most of the children in that home are already wild. It will be easy for these ones to corrupt them easily hence the spread of the virus. They were all divided and kept in different police cells in a different police station.

“Initially, the Magistrate said that each of them must come with a surety who has a tax clearance. We let them know that most of them are not from this state, they actually travelled from various states for that event.