Police in Nigeria said Tuesday they detained at least 67 people celebrating a gay wedding in one of the largest mass detentions targeting homosexuality, which is outlawed in the West African country. The "gay suspects" were arrested in southern Delta state's Ekpan town about 2am Monday at an event where two of them were married, state police spokesperson Bright Edafe told reporters. He said that homosexuality "will never be tolerated" in Nigeria, per the AP. "The amazing part of it was that we saw two suspects, and there is a video recording where they were performing their wedding ceremony," he said. "We are in Africa and we are in Nigeria. We cannot copy the Western world because we don't have the same culture."
Arrests of gay people are common in Nigeria , Africa's most populous country, where gay people can face up to 14 years in prison under the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act. Accomplices face 10 years in prison. Enacted in 2013, the law has been condemned locally and internationally, though it's also supported by many in the country. Amnesty International's Nigeria office condemned the arrests and called for "an immediate end to this witch hunt." The arrests came after police stormed a hotel in Ekpan where the gay wedding was being held and initially arrested 200 people, Edafe told reporters. Later, 67 of them were detained after initial investigations.
In a live broadcast of the suspects being paraded by police, one of those arrested said they were not attending the wedding ceremony and were at the hotel for another engagement. Another suspect said he doesn't identify as a gay person and was arrested while on his way to a fashion show. "On my way going to the event, police attacked me and took me to the police station," he said. "They said I have committed an offense while dressed like this but I don't know if cross-dressing is against the constitution of the land."
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