6 men allegedly engaging in acts of homosexuality have been arrested in different areas within Benin, the Edo State. The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 5, AIG Musa Daura, who paraded the suspects on Thursday, said that they were arrested on May 9, 2016.
They are: Festus Osagiede, 24, Hyacinth Imahanrebhor, 20, Itama Omon, 25, Onwukwe Prince, 28, Monye Chukwuma, 23, and Osadebe Kelvin, 26. According to Daura, they confessed to have been committing the crime since 2006. Osagiede, said to be the leader of the gang, first committed the crime when he had carnal knowledge of the third suspect after attending a Benin night club in 2006.
His words: “After the third suspect (Itama) got drunk, Festus Osagiede took him to his house and forcefully had carnal knowledge of him. Since then, they have been committing the crime with others at large until May, 2016, when luck ran out of them and they swooped on by zonal detectives.
The youngest among the suspects, Hyacinth, said, “It all happened late last year, when I was returning from a birthday party at night. I was unable to get public transport back home. I met Festus on my way; he asked me why I was roaming about. I said that I could pass the night at his place.
That night, he touched me. In the course of shouting at him, he forcefully penetrated me and it got me sick. He said that if I told anybody, he knows where to find me and my family, that he would kill me.”
AIG Daura who described the crime as a disturbing trend, said many of the perpetrators formed cliques, saying the suspects would be charged to court tomorrow. He added that: “You would agree with me that this offence is an offence against humanity and nature, an abominable act that should be condemned in every ramification by all.”…. #AllNigerians standwiththem!…. Cc: Punch Newspaper
