One man was nearly beaten to death and four of the men were dragged to the nearby police station, where the police continued the beatings and insults, according to reports by Ifeanyi Orazulike from the International Center on Advocacy for the Right to Health.
Witnesses said that the mob of over 40 men had broken down the doors of the neighbourhood at around 1am and shouted that it was going to cleanse the community of gays, and used wires, whips and furniture to attack the 14 young men they condemned as homosexual.
The assaults come a month after President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law a bill that criminalizes same-sex relationships, requiring a maximum of 14 years in prison for offenders.
Orazulike told international news agencies that those attacked were in hiding. “They were told ‘If you come back, we will kill you,’” he said.
He also revealed that the walls of houses where the men lived were painted with graffiti stating “Homosexuals, pack and leave.”
The US has condemned the law and threatened sanctions against Nigeria; however the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle has assured Nigerians that the United States would not be cutting aid because of the anti-gay law.
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