Mob 'tries to lynch gays'

2007-08-25 17:18

Lagos - Angry demonstrators have injured a prison official in northern Nigerian Bauchi state in an attempt to lynch suspected homosexuals being held, official news agency NAN said on Saturday.

The prison chief, Mohammed Nata'ala, was quoted by NAN as saying the unnamed official was injured while preventing the mob from forcing their way into the prison late on Friday.

The demonstrators were said to be protesting the substitution of the charge against the suspects from sodomy, which carries the death penalty under the Islamic sharia code, to idleness.

The sharia penal code was adopted in Bauchi and other states in Muslim northern Nigeria eight years ago following the end of military rule.

The suspects, 18 in all, were arrested on August 4 in a hotel in Bauchi for wearing women's clothing and allegedly attempting to conduct a gay marriage.

But a judge granted them bail on August 21 after the prosecution had substituted the charge of sodomy with idleness, which carries one-year imprisonment.

Five of the men who satisfied the bail conditions, including payment of 20 000 naira, were released pending the resumption of the case on September 13.

The remaining 13, who have not yet satisfied bail conditions, were sent back to the Bauchi prison after appearing in court.

As the suspects left court, the crowd hurled insults at them and pelted them with stones, some of which hit police and journalists covering the trial.

Police fired into the air and used tear gas to restore order.

- AFP