While controversy rages around proposed new anti-gay legislation in Nigeria, the existing discriminatory laws seem to still have considerable bite. This week, a man in Nigeria was sentenced to six week’s jail-time for requesting sex from another man.
Francis Chima told the court in Abuja that he had intended to have sex with a man that he met on the street. He claimed that his actions were “the work of Satan” and promised to never do it again.
“The time I met him on the road, I saw him as a friend and when we entered his house, we discussed and as I was about to go, I put my head on the chest of the man and I wanted to be his friend,” he said, according to reports.
Chima pled guilty to charges of criminal trespass and attempt to commit an unnatural offence.
Despite a please for mercy, magistrate Ajoke Adepoju sentenced the man to six weeks in prison or a fine of N1000. It is not yet clear if Chima can afford the fine. He has 30 days to appeal the sentence.
