27th August, 2019
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Some of the 57 men arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly conducting a ‘gay initiation rites’ at a birthday party in Egbeda area of Lagos have narrated their side of the story.
The young men, at a press conference hosted by The Initiative for Equal Rights, a civil rights group, revealed how they were treated at the point of arrest, what they went through at the Ikoyi Prison and what they had gone through in the past one year of their ordeal.
The rights group called for dismissal of the case since, after five court appearances, the police were yet to establish any substantial evidence against the young men.
The Executive Director of the group, Miss Xeenarh Mohammed, told journalists that the 57 men branded as criminals had incurred travel and legal costs to make appearances in court, while the police continued to give excuses to delay court proceedings.
James Burutu, who was the celebrator at the party where the men were arrested, said the Police stormed the venue at about 2am, rounded up his friends, separated the women from the men, and then took 57 men away.
“People were in the hall and suddenly at about 2am, I was in my room and the next thing I know, the DJ stopped playing the music and I asked my friends who were with me what was happening. They said they didn’t know.
“I was just going to put on my clothes and join my guests downstairs, when I heard ‘sit down there, don’t move’. So I decided to stay back. We peeped from the window and I saw Police vans and they were telling all the guys and the girls to stand separately .
“I tried to call the hotel manager but he didn’t pick up, so the police asked the girls to go and they took the boys”, he said.
Burutu added that, as a result of the incident and the bad publicity it generated at the time, he lost his job and his sister threw him out of her home.
“Ever since, many of my family members have not been talking to me. They said they didn’t know me to be gay and why would police come to my party and said it’s a gay party. I have not been myself ever since.”
One of the suspects, Smart Joel, said he was at the hotel to celebrate with his friends after celebrating his own birthday the previous day.
“For me, before that fateful day was my birthday. I decided to go for the party, I went with three of my friends, along with our girlfriends .
“We were in the hall. The party had just begun when I saw people running. Before I knew it, I saw many policemen. They brought everyone out, asked us to kneel down and separated the ladies from us. They said they didn’t have any business with the ladies; that they were there for the guys, after they got an information that we were having gay and cultism initiations.”
“I just told my girlfriend to inform my family of what happened. The police left with 57 of us. They took us from one police station to another and the Task Force office in Oshodi and back to another police station. Then they landed us at anti-cultism police station, at Charley Boy Gbagada. It was very saddening.”
“We wrote statements; we went to commissioner’s office on Monday and that was when it dawned on me that my life is finished after they paraded us on live TV. After the parade at the headquarters, we were taken to court on Tuesday and the Magistrate said we should go on bail but to my greatest surprise, we were sent to Ikoyi prison.”
“Before we got to prison, the news had gone viral that they were bringing gays from the court. We went through a lot of things in the prison. They tortured us. Even the warders, showed me video that was being circulated. In other cells, I heard the way some of the guys were tortured.
“Another thing that struck me was that, we were forced to call our parents to send money to their accounts, or buy recharge cards. To even sit down in the cell, you pay. N50, 000 to sleep on the bed, or you pay N30, 000 to sleep on the floor comfortably or N20, 000 to sit on the floor, with back well relaxed. If you failed to meet the terms, would be made to sleep on the floor in an uncomfortable manner. The inmates called it ‘Jankara.
“I spent one week and three days, and when I got out I was already lean. About five of us fainted in the cell because of the torture we experienced. The remaining guys spent one month and one week before the first adjourned date. Their family members didn’t show up, so they couldn’t secure their bail.” Joel narrated.
After getting out, Joel said, he was stigmatized by his family members, who accused him of spoiling the family’s name.
He added that he lost his Job, dropped out of school because of stigmatization and was deserted by his church members.
“I have been answering a lot of names ever since. When people see me they will say that’s the gay guy that they arrested. It has not been easy. I was depressed, moved to committing suicide. It was just the grace of God that didn’t make me commit suicide,” he lamented.
Another suspect, Desmond Onoha, who was the MC at the party, said he did not understand why the police separated the ladies from the men during the arrest. He said the evidence the police could produce was the shisha pots and other things that could be found in any club.
“I work as a chef and as an MC, and James here is my friend. So I came from Ibadan to anchor the party.
“It was a really bad experience. At the Ikoyi prison, they have to search you. In searching, they will put hands in your private areas to see if you’re not hiding any money. The officers there and the inmates won’t allow you to sit or even go and urinate. One of us urinated in his pants”, he narrated.
Onoha, who said he had heart problem, said he spent weeks in hospital as a result of the torture he was subjected to in the prison.
“I was dying in that cell and the warders there are the worst people on earth. The following morning they took us out and shaved our heads using one blade for about 20 people. They were beating us with woods like animals, it was hell”, he lamented.
He added that when he got back to his abode in Ibadan where he also worked, he was sacked by his employers and sent packing by his relatives.