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The new Nigerian police bill terrifies me and I'll tell you why. Almost two years ago, I was walking home from a friend's when a police car stopped by my side. Out stumbled an armed man with a gun and a grimace. He beckoned for me to come closer and heart already racing, I did.
When I walked up to him, he searched my pockets and asked where I was headed, to which I responded "home".
He asked for my phone and I raised an eyebrow, asking if there was a problem. His frown deepened, ordering me in a threatening voice to open it.
He asked for my phone and I raised an eyebrow, asking if there was a problem. His frown deepened, ordering me in a threatening voice to open it.
Compared to him standing with a gun and the law enforcement uniform, I was just an effeminate teen desperate to walk out of that situation as quietly as possible. It was 7am in the morning and the street was completely still. Local news of teenage boys getting shot flooded...
...my memory and I immediately decided my life wasn't worth a smartphone. I handed it to him and he motioned to open it up, using the arm where his gun was. When I did, he went straight to my emails. When he found nothing, he went to my gallery. Empty as well.
I don't believe in any religion, but man did I pray he wouldn't open up my WhatsApp. It didn't work of course, and all he had to do was open up... Well, pretty much every conversation I had.
See now, everyone talks about how hard it is for Nigerian young adults to be picked on..
See now, everyone talks about how hard it is for Nigerian young adults to be picked on..
..by these men, but no one talks about how horrible it is when you're queer or even a little bit nonconforming. Immediately he realized I was queer, it was like he'd discovered vibranium. He yelled at me to go into the car, telling me I was under arrest. I begged and begged...
...but he didn't care. He said, "It's better for you to be a fraudster than this gay of a thing."
On the short drive to the police station, my mind almost devoured itself. I was worried. I was horrified. I was angry. I did nothing to warrant a seat in that car.
On the short drive to the police station, my mind almost devoured itself. I was worried. I was horrified. I was angry. I did nothing to warrant a seat in that car.
At the station, they asked me to fill out a report, asking questions like who "initiated" me into gayism and to write down their names. They asked me what year it was (???) and if I was going to change.
When I grammatically tried not to legally implicate myself, one of them...
When I grammatically tried not to legally implicate myself, one of them...
...brandished a machete in my face and warned, saying he would cut me. I did everything asked of me from then on.
I was treated like vermin. Given looks of pity and disgust - you know, like I actually did something bad. I was taken to their superior's office...
I was treated like vermin. Given looks of pity and disgust - you know, like I actually did something bad. I was taken to their superior's office...
...where I was told that they would be taking me to a hospital to get "tested for being gay" by having an anal examination done.
Apparently, it didn't matter how long ago I'd done anal, as long as it had happened, "the machine would know."
Apparently, it didn't matter how long ago I'd done anal, as long as it had happened, "the machine would know."
Maybe if the situation weren't so dire, I'd have laughed at the sheer idiocy of what happened that day. But it was. This was real life and I was being told by real people that there was a "gay test" and that whether I passed or failed, I would be rusticated from my school.
To avoid having to take this test, I was told to pay money. They told me to pay âŠ1,000,000.
That was when I realized I was in serious trouble. I asked for my phone and they didn't respond. I kept asking until they told me to shut up and eventually caved in. I immediately...
That was when I realized I was in serious trouble. I asked for my phone and they didn't respond. I kept asking until they told me to shut up and eventually caved in. I immediately...
...called my roommate who came with an array of friends, most of whom were either visibly queer or nonconforming. It immediately made them be disliked by the officers. The first thing one said was, "You go call toto for us? Toto wey be âŠ50 for junction?"
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised about the misogyny, but I can't get over it. I still can't get over anything that happened that day. We dragged that situation out from 7am to 9pm, not without them almost outing me to my parents, before settling for...
...a plan where they made me call them and say that I was picked up alongside gang members and would need âŠ100,000 for bail. After a shit ton of bargaining and begging that eventually lost meaning to me because I didn't even know why I was begging anymore, we settled for âŠ70k.
I always remind people who I relay this experience to that it was only possible for me to escape physically and socially unscathed because of the presumed financial class they placed me in.
Due to how Western I sound, I was neither put in a holding cell or beaten.
Due to how Western I sound, I was neither put in a holding cell or beaten.
I was even "interviewed" in an office with air conditioning. Whereas everyone else who was arrested for being queer in THAT SAME station slept in jail for a least three days to a week, were outed to family and some even had to leave school. The classism is loud and undeniable.
ALL of these things happened before this bill practically handed policemen discretion-based arrest powerups. We live in a country where they have insulted, slut-shamed, beaten, raped and killed citizens without so much as a fine being given to these perpetrators.
These men are systematically enabled to treat citizens like dirt & a law like this not only legally amplifies their audacity, but is a response to Nigerians that we do not matter.
Our voices are not being listened to. We are being told point blank, that our lives do not matter.
Our voices are not being listened to. We are being told point blank, that our lives do not matter.
What are we going to do about it?
