DANAI NESTA KUPEMBA

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Homophobic gangs in Nigeria rob and torture queer people in online dating attacks

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Homophobic gangs in Nigeria are targeting LGBTQ+ people and blackmailing them for money using fake online dating profiles, it has been revealed.

These criminals are called ‘kito’, which is a Nigerian term for a person who pretends they are queer on social media and dating apps to entrap LGBTQ+ people.

A new BBC Africa documentary, Kito: Blackmailing LGBT Nigeria, sheds light on the crimes perpetuated against the country’s LGBTQ+ community, as criminals use people’s sexual identities to blackmail them.

In Nigeria, being gay can carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

In the documentary, a father of three, Mohammed, shares the story of when he was the victim of a kito gang. 

Mohammed had been talking to a man named Jamal online before he decided to meet up with him. 

They went back to his home and when Mohammed got into the shower, a group of men burst in and began beating him. Jamal and the gang took a video of the assault and posted it online.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=kTXQFig2LsI%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26enablejsapi%3D1

“I couldn’t believe that someone I trusted could go to the extent of doing that to me,” Mohammed told the BBC.

Mohammed said he became suicidal after the experience but his son’s unconditional love kept him alive.

“I called my kids, three of them. My son told me he loves his father. Even if his father is queer, he has no issues with that,” he said. 

Emmanuel, another victim of the kito, told the BBC he was also filmed after being tricked. His attackers didn’t post the video online, but instead forced him to withdraw 500,000 naira (£860) from his bank accounts and tortured him with an iron. 

He said the experience hurt him “mentally” and left him feeling “insecure”.

Most of the men interviewed in the documentary lost their jobs when the blackmail videos went online. 

In February 2022, a man was murdered after a kito gang entrapped him via social media, according to DNB. Six men were also arrested in Nigeria for allegedly extorting moneyfrom gay people they found on a dating app. 

Crimes targeting gay men using dating apps have become a common occurrence across the continent. In South Africa, authorities recently warned gay men using Grindr to be careful as criminals were using the app to find targets and blackmail them.

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Russian men face 20 years in prison after being accused of gay sex by neighbour’s kids

Two Russian men were arrested after being reported by a neighbour for allegedly having gay sex.

The neighbour made a police report claiming that her young children had seen the two men, Timur, 21, and Daniil, 22, through a window pouring water over each other and “doing something resembling sex”, as reported by Baza.

The two men were detained and prosecuted under the Violent Acts of Sexual Character act. If found guilty they could face anything from 12 to 20 years in prison, as a child under 14 witnessed the alleged sexual act.

However, the mother has since tried to retract her statement.

Timur and Daniil told police that the children misunderstood what they had seen. They explained that they had undressed because they were fixing a burst pipe in the bedroom.

The two men affirmed their heterosexuality and one mentioned they had a girlfriend. According to Baza, when the mother confronted the men they were “very adequate and nice” and now she wants to “make amends”.

She now wants to retract her statement to the police as she “did not expect things to spiral out of control in this way”.

But it may be too late as Timur and Daniil have been sent to a pre-trial detention facility for two months.

Russia is notorious for its hardline, anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

In 2013 Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into effect his notorious ‘gay propaganda’ law banning any “promotion” of “non-traditional sexual relationships” among minors.

The hateful measure has been used to clamp down on LGBTQ+ advocates, prevent kids from accessing inclusive literature and stop minors from watching LGBTQ-themed content on streaming platforms. In July, plans were announced to extend the law to adults.

LGBTQ+ Russians face violence and persecution, with reports of Russia sending gay men who have escaped “gay purges” in Chechnya back to Chechen police.