A 35-year-old trader, Mr. Emmanuel Anyanwu, is currently seeking the protection of the German government against repatriation and prosecution in Nigeria over his sexual orientation as a gay.
Anyanwu, who is currently taking refuge in Germany, following his escape from Nigeria in 2014 after the police in Lagos allegedly launched a manhunt for him over his alleged involvement in a fracas at a night club in the Ketu area, is now pleading with the German government not to send him back to Nigeria.
The trader argued that his life would be endangered if he’s sent back to Nigeria, as he would have no protection from both the police and the society, which sees people with his kind of sexual orientation as unfit to live amongst them.
Anyanwu is, therefore, appealing to the German government to grant him asylum, rather than repatriate him to Nigeria, where his life would be endangered as he no longer had family members to fall back on for support due to the recent Fulani herdsmen/farmers’ violence in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, which led to the razing of his family house, the dislocation and dispersal of his relations, some of who were killed in the crisis.
Recall that on January 13, 2014, the then president Goodluck Jonathan signed into law the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which was had been passed by the National Assembly since May 2013.
The law clearly states among other things, that a person who “registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisation, or directly or indirectly makes public show of same sex amorous relationship in Nigeria” is liable to 14 years’ imprisonment.
The Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act criminalises all forms of same-sex unions and same-sex marriage throughout the country.
A friend to the embattled gay trader, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that he recently spoke with Anyanwu, who related his current ordeal and his fears about returning to Nigeria.
“Emmanuel Anyanwu is seeking asylum in Germany after finding out his life was in danger in Nigeria for being a gay,” he said.
He further explained that Anyanwu was involved in a fight with some members of a rival gay group in a night club in the Ketu area of Lagos, on December 25, 2012, resulting in the police storming the club to arrest some of those involved in the fracas.
He added that Anyanwu, who named one Chidiebere as his same-sex partner, escaped from the scene and ran for his life to Germany, while the police succeede in arresting some members of the rival group.
The trader’s friend further said that Anyanwu, who used to sell shoes in Onitsha, Anambra State, before he had problems with his suppliers over his inability to pay for the stock supplied because of the huge debt owed him by some of his customers and had to later flee to Lagos, was also afraid of reprisals from his suppliers, whom he accused of threatening to deal with him anytime they got hold of him.
“Anyanwu was accused of being a gay in 2010 and subsequently arrested. But he was later released because the police then had no strong evidence against him, but the 2012 incident at the night club confirmed the suspicion that he’s actually a gay. This led to his running away from the country” he added.
He also disclosed that Anyanwu entered Germany in 2014 through the Niger-Algeria route, noting that the German government had now asked him to get his passport for his repatriation, but being afraid for his life, he would not want to go back home to Nigeria.
“He spent two weeks in Niger Republic, one month in Algeria, three weeks in Turkey, more than one year in Bulgaria, two days in Serbia, three weeks in Hungary and from there, he entered Germany in August 2014″ he said.
The neighbour further lamented that if Anyanwu was repatriated back to Nigeria, he had nowhere to live as members of his family, who were resident in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, had fallen victims to the Fulani herders’/farmers’ killings, as they had been forced to flee the area and nobody had heard from
them since.
He said, “He has tried contacting his family but couldn’t get across to any of them only to be informed by a close neighbour that his family fell victim to the recent Fulani herdsmen/farmers’ killings and had since been dispersed as their family house was razed. Since then, nobody knows their whereabouts. So, he Can’t go back to Nigeria because his family, who he will fall back on, has been dislocated, some of them were killed and their family house razed due to Fulani herdsmen/farmers’ violence.
“Right now, there is no trace of any of his family members. So, he has nobody to live with even if he’s sent back to Nigeria.”
