In April 2026, a group of students at Madonna University, Okija, including the hostel porter, allegedly bullied and brutalized a 100-level student of the school over suspicions of homosexuality, leading to the student’s death. Such violent and homophobic acts are increasingly rampant in right-leaning countries such as Nigeria. In Nigeria, the violence against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community stems from the criminalization of same-sex relationships following the enactment of the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) 2014. This Act condemns same-sex unions, public displays of same-sex affection, and membership in LGBTQ-support organizations, prescribing sentences of ten to fourteen years’ imprisonment. Sadly, the Act has fueled homophobic violence against gay, lesbian, transexual, and effeminate people in Nigeria, exposing them to kidnapping, extortion, and death. The endangerment of the lives of LGBTQ community members calls for a repeal of the Act. Also, Nigeria needs to prosecute the abduction, torture, and killing of LGBTQ people.
The Madonna student’s death is only one example of what has become a pattern in Nigeria. In October 2025, a deceitful partner lured a queer boy in Port Harcourt through a dating app and threw him off a two-storey building upon arrival. Earlier in August 2024, unknown persons threatened, beat up, bruised, killed, and dumped a transgender woman, “Area Mama,” on a highway in Abuja. On social media, especially X, effeminate men and LGBTQ people receive death threats and social cancellation from users who deem their sexual orientation unnatural. This reflects how oppressive and hostile the Nigerian social environment has become for the LGBTQ community. Sadly, the perpetrators of these homophobic acts do not face prosecution under the law, and the victims of their violence only agitate for justice without legal response.
To uphold fundamental human rights for all citizens, Nigeria needs to repeal the SSMPA to protect the LGBTQ community regardless of their varying sexual orientations. Nigeria should follow the example of other African countries like South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.
Recently, Botswana rescinded its same-sex ban, a move that decriminalised LGBTQ persons and guaranteed their legal protection in the country. In 2006, South Africa became the only African country to legalize same-sex marriage, providing a safe destination for LGBTQ people, and in 2020, it passed the Civil Union Amendment Act to prohibit refusals to officiate same-sex marriages. In a landmark ruling in 2024, the Namibian High Court declared the colonial laws that banned same-sex relationships unconstitutional, insisting that such laws perpetuated unfair discrimination against LGBTQ people.
With legal protection and decriminalization of the LGBTQ community, victims of homophobic violence can seek justice openly with support from concerned organizations. The decriminalization will prevent indiscriminate loss of lives that pile on the existing insecurity challenges in Nigeria. In decriminalizing same-sex relationships, the LGBTQ community in Nigeria will no longer hide their identity and stifle the expression of their gender identities as survival tactics in Nigeria.
Most importantly, law enforcement must promptly arrest and prosecute perpetrators of homophobic violence for crimes such as killing, kidnapping, and extortion. The government must not engage in disposing of LGBTQ people by ignoring the illegal detentions, kidnapping, and killing by other citizens who take the law into their own hands.
Prosecuting facilitators and perpetrators of homophobic violence will deter people and empower queer people to seek justice against their perpetrators. It will also reduce the possibility of queer people being hunted even by law enforcement agents in the country. The Violent Crime Response Unit of the Nigerian Police Force needs to respond to complaints of kidnapping and violence without discrimination, as long as the response involves the protection of citizens’ lives. The Police Complaint Response Unit should also actively escalate reported cases of abuse and violence without bias against queer people.
Nigeria must create an inclusive environment for all citizens, regardless of their diverse backgrounds. Repealing the SSMPA will remove the legal threats that make LGBTQ people hide their identities. Despite social disapproval, they will no longer fear arrest, blackmail, or neglect by the authorities. Legal safeguards against anti-LGBTQ violence will create a safe environment for the LGBTQ community in Nigeria.
Okorie Divine is an African Liberty writing fellow.
MambaOnline is a co-publisher of this article.
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash.
