Nigeria: Student beaten because roommate thinks he’s gay
A student at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria was severely beaten last month by fellow students after his roommate found messages that he exchanged with a male friend.
Front entrance of the University of Ilorin
The incident reportedly occurred in February at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria’s Kwara State.
According to a witness who reported the incident to NoStringsNG, the victim, age 25, was a third-year university student named Ikedi [a pseudonym], who had been chatting by text messages on his phone with a male friend. He left the phone in a corner when he went to the bathroom. His roommate violated his right to privacy by picking up the phone and finding what the roommate concluded were erotic messages sent to another male. He alerted neighbors, who are also students.
The neighbors gathered and demanded that Ikedi tell them about the messages. He told them it was just a friendly chat, but they did not believe him.
Location of Kwara State in western Nigeria (Map courtesy of Wikipedia)
Instead, they beat Ikedi with belts, brooms, and sticks, causing him great bodily harm. They also smashed his phone.
The incident was kept a secret from University of Ilorin authorities. Ikedi relocated from the neighborhood to continue his education at the University of Ilorin and avoid any further attacks.
Unfortunately, incidents like this are common in universities and high schools in Nigeria where students are beaten, blackmailed, extorted, bullied and even killed because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.
These are all crimes. Perpetrators should face the full wrath of the law. According to Section 351 of the Criminal Code, any person who unlawfully assaults another is guilty of a misdemeanor. The crime is punishable by imprisonment for one year.
Related articles:
- Nigerian University students talk about being gay on campus
- Delta State: Nigerian male student blackmailed with photos as homosexual
- Nigerian School, campaigns against homosexuality in its school magazine
- Nigerian police arrest campus leader of secret men’s group
This is the right angle to proceed on, that the law was clearly broken by those who assaulted this student. Regardless of the Nigerian law against LGBT people forming a relationship with another LGBT person, there was no crime committed by this student, who was beaten up for no reason.
When this guy graduate and becomes somebody in life his roommate will ashamed of himself