Lagos Court Throws Out Homosexuality Charge Against James Brown, 46 Other Men

A judge in Lagos has thrown out the homosexuality charge preferred against 47 men including Internet sensation, James Brown, due to lack of diligent prosecution.

Nigeria’s laws ban homosexuality and it is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The men were charged with public displays of affection with members of same-sex.

Reuters

However, the decision of the court has ended what had widely been seen as a test of the country’s laws banning homosexual relationships.

The men were arrested in a police raid on a Lagos hotel in Egbeda in 2018.

Police said the men were being initiated into a gay club but the defendants said they were attending a birthday party.

Prosecution and defence lawyers in the case had told Reuters that nobody had yet been convicted under the law, which led to the case of the men being widely seen as a test case that could help to establish the burden of proof.

Prosecutors failed to attend Tuesday’s hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos, having previously failed to present some of their witnesses in a case that had been adjourned on several occasions.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa struck out the case and said he had done so due to the “lack of diligent prosecution”.

Outside the court, many of the men smiled and cheered including James Brown, who said, “I am free. It means a lot of good things.”

Under Nigerian law, defendants in a case that is struck out can be rearrested and arraigned again on the same charge, whereas that is not possible in cases that have been dismissed.

Taxi driver, Onyeka Oguaghamba, a father-of-four, who said he merely drove people to the party, said he was happy the case had been struck out but disappointed that it was not dismissed entirely.

Legal

Sex

News

AddThis

Original Author

SaharaReporters, New York

Disable advertisements

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS

from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/37LZgJj
via EDUPEDIA

Comments

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja. Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...

EDUPEDIA247

Search This Blog