Homophobic attacks are an affront to civilised societies

The Independent’s investigation into homophobic persecution in Nigeria reveals deeply disturbing stories of violence against entirely blameless people in the developing world.

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It also serves as a much wider warning about human rights and the callous cuts in international development support now being implemented by the world’s most prosperous nations.

On a simple, human level, no one can read the testimonies carried by The Independent, or watch Bel Trew’s documentary, Hunted: Kidnapped, blackmailed and tortured for being LGBTQ+, and fail to be deeply moved by what is happening to other human beings who want no more than to live their lives in peace, and love who they wish to love.

In Nigeria, they call it kito, a violent phenomenon that combines gang violence, entrapment, cybercrime, extortion and social phobias. Organised gangs target people on dating apps and via social media accounts. Once entrapped, the victims are tortured and filmed in order to extort ransoms. These videos are then shared with family members and then posted online, exposing victims’ sexuality and, in some cases, their HIV status, destroying their lives.

It is harrowing even for an observer to learn the details of a case. We report, for example, on the case of Amed (name changed to protect his identity). He is a 36-year-old man, HIV-positive and living in the north of Nigeria, where homosexuality remains illegal, thanks to a hangover of colonial-era laws, long since discarded among the former imperial powers. In some provinces of federal Nigeria, the “crime” is punishable by death under Islamic law.