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| Uche, right |
A Nigerian, Uche Nnabuife, 33, who claims to be gay is begging the UK govt not to deport him to Nigeria, saying he will be killed if he is forced to return home. In his petition to the home office, Uche claimed to have been attacked severally in Nigeria because of his sexual orientation and fled to Britain fearing his own uncle was going to kill him.
How dramatic! When did we start beating up and threatening to kill gays in Nigeria? There are a lot of gay people in Lagos, I don't see anybody harrasing anybody. But maybe I'm wrong...is Nigeria another Uganda where newspapers print names of gays and say 'hang them'? Do we harass gays in our country? Do they have a right to be scared?
50 comments:
he is probably lying! im sure he just wants to stay in the UK so they can give him papers or something. seeking asylum? i doubt he's gay, because gays aren't being killed in Nigeria. well Southern Nigeria, at least. he should stop lying. IF HE IS GAY, he probably just doesn't want to face the shame. but to be killed? i doubt it.
He's obviously lying.
Was he gaying his arse at Kuramo beach or inside his house? ••Saps fingers over head•• Wonders shall never end. People sha. Anyway, gay or not, I think he wants to stay here. I don't believe his "gay" story. I'm not against gays, but, from a legal standpoint, his case ain't watertight (no pun intended). Even if he was Saudi, Pakistani or Afghan, being gay or fearing persecution in your home country is not a good enough excuse to seek asylum or whatever from the Home Office. Due to the economic downturn, the Conservative government, and other current UK issues, the Home Office is extra strict with asylum, & whatever applications. UK govt's Home Office and Border Agency have gone extra strict on immigration for people from black Africa, Asia, Caribbean and South America. Too many people from around the world are using the "Gay Card" to try and stay here, but many of them get turned down and deported. Whether he's lying or not, I don't think they will give him whatever he's asking.
•••BD•••
Aight, so in my opinion, I do think that is so possible. Some Nigerians can be quite homophobic and I hope we can get past that.
Yes he will be killed jo! ....Not that I personaly condone killing...but the reality is that we still live in a culture and environment where such is GREATLY frowned at! he will be Jugded everyday of his life!...tell me if he cant walk freely with another man hand in hand? NEVER!!! at least not if he is in Nigeria!...they will pass judgement on him right away....okada boys/area boys will strip him naked and put tire on his head and parade him...and who will stop them...NOBODY!!!!
Linda, remeber that article you shared on your blog about one couple praticing infidelty and they were caught and paraded naked?...imagine that o!!! Infidelty is wrong but who are we to judge?....what happened to those couple will be nothing compared to if those type hypocrite Nigerians catches up with them.....
Nigeria is as BACKWARD as their fellow Uganda allys in issues like this...Infact show me an African country that can condone such and I will show you a three legged man!
I wish him the best and I hope his case is given consideration.
Alicia, anonymous, pointless celebrity...the question at hand is how is being GAY handled in Nigeria...forget if the guy is lying or not.....
Ps...I am a married heterosexual! but I believe in equal opportunities and Human rights....
That is the easiest way to remain in the UK these days especially if you are from Africa. He is most likely lying.
Shame isn't it.
Trust me, gays are judged everywhere. The only reason why they get by in western countries is because people are trying to be "politically correct", point is, it is wrong any way you look at it. It is against nature, not normal etc. What happened to opposites attract?
With this article, his black ass will just get deported!
Even if gays in Nigeria are not killed, the truth of the matter is that they have no equal Rights like their Hetrosexual counterparts and sometimes that could lead to some of them being attacked most especially in the North!
Believe He has a case. you cannot compare being gay in Nigeria or anyway in Africa(except South Africa)as safe as in Europe!
I wish him good luck and hope that he gets what He is asking for.
I don't know whether he is really gay or not but in the United Kingdom, claiming you are gay is a very common trick used by people to avoid deportation. As for being killed, I don't know if this is true as I hear that there are gay and lesbian clubs these days in Lagos
Nobody will kill him in Nigeria, he just wants to stay there.
this dude is certainly lying!!!
just want 2 seek some kinda refuge in the UK. hurry home Mister,reality awaits you!!!
he just wants to stay but the magnitude of which people beat gays up in naija is not as much or as profound as the other african countries... but he has probably been harrased before, no one can say he is lying.
Oh please the hypocrisy of African's just kills me. Of course gays are looked down on and of course gays are harassed and of course if he ran into the wrong crowd he could possibly be killed.
The other day I saw a video of lesbian girls being harassed and videotaped in a lagos university. Are you all forgetting that! Or that is normal? mchewwwwwwwww
Pahleeze - what are you all pretending for. mchewwwwwww Africans - two sided people always like to paint ourselves as forward thinking when even women s basic rights are looked down on.
No body will kill him! a certain gay student was in University of Ife years ago by the name Dapo Adaralegbe aka Dade and no one attempted killing him. yes we may not condone it but no one will kill him for it. He is lying and besides the pose with the chiko is too casual i dont believe he is gay!
THE GUY IS A CHEAP LIAR.THERE ARE BETTER AND SMOOTH LIES TO TENDER IF HE'S TRYING TO SEEK ASYLUM COS ITS OBVIOUS THAT IS WHAT HE IS TRYING TO DO.LOL
all he wants is his papers in the uk. alot of african guys r using this angle to stay in the uk but home office aint stupid they knw pple r not being killed in naija for being gay so goodluck ti him lol
That guy is a disgrace to Nigeria. He should better stay there, possibly in prison forever..
@ anonymous 6:33pm
Ehn,erm, news flash for you - that he will be harassed is not a reason to seek asylum! So what if you watched a video of lesbians being harassed in a Lagos university? Do you know how many pre-teen girls are harrassed daily in Mushin homes? Do you know how many Igbos are harrassed daily in Isale-Eko streets? Do you know how many juniors are harrased daily in boarding houses?
Of course gays are harrased, but so are countless other groups of people. And i'm not saying that makes it right, i am just saying that we are all harrassed at one point in our lives or another......obviously, some more than others.
But there is no active official sanction for harrassment of homosexuals. So therefore, you cannot just arise and claim indefinite leave to remain in the UK. LASTMA does not seize anybody's car because of gayness. Neither are you barred from going to University or buying a house cos you are gay. When was the last time you heard of anyone facing a firing squad at Kiri-kiri solely for the offence of being gay?
For sure the majority of Nigerians consider being gay as something shameful. He says he is scared of being killed by his uncle if he goes back to Nigeria. How many pregnant Nigerian teenage girls are scared of being killed by their fathers? So they should also apply for asylum kwa?
Excuse me, i am a christian, Yoruba and female and if i run into the wrong crowd in Maiduguri i can also be killed!
Your reasoning is soooo off.
Maybe they exist o, but I personally have not met a single African who claims that Africans in general are forward thinking when it comes to the issue of women's rights. You add this lie to your comment to try to give your post legitimacy
So quick are you to see Africans as two-faced - which is such an unreasonable generalization!Anyway, thank God you are one of us - look in the mirror my dear.
Yes, Linda, homosexual Nigerians are harassed and assaulted in Nigeria. They certainly are not welcomed with open arms or free to express their sexuality as freely as they'll wish.
Need proof? The video of 3 university lesbians that were beaten by boys speaks volumes.
I think the guy might have a point. No be Naija again? a country that forces its heterosexual men and women to marry whether they want to go down that path or not. So how much more someone who is gay. I can only imagine what they might do to him. Goodluck to him sha. And yes, in comparison to advanced societies, Naija is backward hence I don't see myself going back there anytime soon.
@ Omo Jeje - just because you have accepted a life of harassment and perhaps death - does not mean that other people have to. For you to say 'so what' regarding the lesbian harassment further goes to show how you have accepted that as 'norm'. I am female and have NEVER been harassed in the US. Would i give that up for groping and harassment in Naija - never ever. For me freedom is everything.
Let the guy get asylum as he will probably be killed. The vast majority of you are lining up at embassies and playing the lottery to get out of naija anyway.
@all those calling him liar, how did you come into that conclusion that he is not gay?. The lad may be gay and immigration wahala or not, he stands a better chance to live freely in the UK more than Nigeria unless he is ready to live in the closet for the rest of his life. Being gay in Africa is no joke because even his own family may hire people to lynch and kill him.- Gbenga
HE IS GAY. I know. He just chose to kill two birds with one stone in this situation by using his life style to possibly pardon him from being deported whilst using this as an opportunity to come out. The only thing funny here is how desperate this bender is to stay in the U.K, like it's O.K to be gay here and not back home, its not O.K to be gay PERIOD. If you ask me, i think they should line them all up, blind fold them and POW POW POW....POW some more. The Irony is that this dude wasn't complaining about being in an all male prison "cough cough" until they started talking about deporting him. Linda i noticed you've got love for the benders aka gays and I don't know about you but i wasn't born from a man, nor virgin Mary. The point is some things aren't natural and some acts are meant for beasts alone, not for man to foolishly imitate. So they need to stop with that their foolishness and get a life, rather than living 'the life'.
I do think that he might be right. Honestly, how many Nigerian families tolerate having a gay son?
And he must not compulsiraly be from Lagos. If he is from the north, I can imagine that he'll have to fear for his life a lot more.
Just leave the young man alone, if he trule is gay and he is scared of what he might face at home, let him stay where he is.
u can be gay to get any thing u want in london like getting a house from gov
he is lying cos he doesn't doesn't want to go back.
My mother always told me men who hate gays, have some insecure gay tendencies.
He will be killed in Naija neither by anybody nor because he is gay but by the lack of basic necessities of life... Shelter, food, employment, power supply, bad road, traffic hold-ups etc etc etc.
Nigerians ignore gays, I have never heard of any instance where gays are harrased or assaulted in Naija. My people will simply ignore the gays.
@ anonymous 9:22pm
You can get off your high horse cos like you i live in the US. But what has that got to do with anything? The vast majority of you never left Nigeria before you were 15. You never had life so good and still think you are dreaming cos you are in America.
When did i say/imply that i have accepted a life of harrassment? Like you i have never been harrassed living here but i fail to see how that is relevant to the case at hand. Unlike you though, neither was i groped or harrassed in Nigeria - maybe you should watch where you go. Anyway, you surely cannot be implying that homosexuals never face harassment in America cos we all know that there have been a few, recent, very publicized suicides involving this exact circumstance.
I will state my main points again- 1) gays are harrassed in Nigeria, but so are a lot of other groups. 2) being harrassed by disparate segments of the society you used to live in is not a reason to claim or be granted asylum.
BTW the person i was responding to said that the lesbians were harrasssed in the video he/she saw. No one mentioned anything about beating (which i saw in a later post). I do not condone physical abuse of ANYONE; but as we say in Nigeria, "I be winsch?". I am supposed to know that harrassment = beating in you people's dictionary abi?
I love Nigerians but we all know that quite a few Nigerians exaggerate. It's just a manner of speaking to a lot of people, like second nature. And this is what i will term your statement "he will probably be killed". I don't have hard statistics to back me up but we both know that in fact the overwhelming majority of gay Nigerians are NOT killed. It is actually quite UNLIKELY that he will be killed.
@ anonymous 9:05pm
Who forces heterosexual people to get married in Nigeria (at least in southern Nigeria)? Grown men and women? Is this done at gunpoint or what? Falling to societal pressure is a worldwide phenomenon but it definitely doesn't mean anyone was "forced" and certainly not by "Nigeria". I know we like to blame Nigeria for everything but that is a little absurd.
Nigeria is far from perfect but it's a little annoying when people come to a Nigerian blog (shebi Linda is Nigerian?) to comment on how Nigeria is beneath them. Doubly annoying when they are Nigerian - the gall of it! I assure you that no one is missing you if you don't go back to Nigeria.
of course queer Nigerians are harassed in Nigeria. That is not even in contention. Nigeria is a country that espouses a compulsory heterosexuality. There are many kinds of violence. You do not have to set someone on fire but words and communal angst against gay and lesbians is equally as debilitating. The fact that whenever I go to Nigeria, I deny that aspect of my identity is telling. I am disappointed that Linda is denouncing this man as dramatic but I guess it is easy when your sexuality is the accepted norm
Omo Jeje back off, you have rant more than enough! If this guy is gay fine, if not fine. If the British Govt accept his asylum okay and if not, that´s his prerogative. You´re not in his shoes to know where its pinches.
And since when has Nigerians open handed accept gays? The world is live and let´s live..... then when we died, each and everyone of us will be responsible for our deeds in the sight of God.
killing doesnt mean bean shot at or stabbed alone..pls there are diff.way pple can kill u without having u murdered ...u can be stigmatised till u wish u were a dead meat.
i girl commited suicide in uk bcos she was fed up of being bullied at school and in her neighbourhood ..tell me is that not killing.
@ALICIA or what's ur name is...if ur father or brother come and tell u he is gay today how would u take it?i guess u will just smile and say oooh dad am so proud of u or oooh brother u made me proud then u would announce it 4 the world to hear wont u gal?
@CHILLING ..YEAH RIGHT ...ALL THANKS TO ALICIA AND THE REST OF THEM and miss linda ikeji.
@omojeje if u allow urselves to be harrased unnecesseraily doesnt mean evrybdo would follow ur footstep.thats the kind of life u chose for urself if u can take it..if others have d opportunity to run away from it why not.
@OMOJEJE how did u get to start living in america!u were born there right? i guessed by the white americans themselves if not how did ur parents get there to give birth to u and not stay in their country and deliver u.who doesnt want a good thing.why dont u pack ur stuffs and come bk home like evry gd citizen of nigeria.
do u know what every nigerian face in there diff homes... a lot happen.
in nigeria there re stories u will hear and u would blieve cos its not u that is happening to and still find it difficult to blieve.
a friend of mind was force to marry a rich man in nigeria bcos her dad was owing the so called rich man some money that he could not pay back.. she lived all her life in misery until she killed herself can u blieve that still happen in nigeria .if she had come here u would have called her liar.
nigeria is not a safe place at all i once read where an hiv positive lady was killed in nigeria b4..so what re we talking about,,grow up pple if it hasnt happen to u doesnt mean it canno happen .and remember nigeria is a lawless country where pple pu law into their hands;
someone could get irritated abt this guy being gay and killed him, blieve me nobody will arrestst him 4 that .the police can even kill u for being gay out of disgust and nothing would happen...
the guy is an idiot.. am sure became gay when he came to uk.
let get serious when i read of homosexuality i dont pay attention but the comments made by pple naija pple abroad abt how backward we are offends me. I am as free as a bird, have seen gay pple around in clubs, joints and in my neighboorhood , the only reason they get harrasses is if they try to toast a straight guy but i have never seen one killed.
homosexuality offends man not to talk of God. let the guy stay there pls we have enuff here we dont need one more especially one saying he will be killed if he is deported.
Officially the sentence for being gay is the death penalty in the north and prison time in the south. Very sad that these are the barbaric laws we are instituting when our country is in shambles.
nawa oo i donot accept homosexuality it is totally wrong but it is also totally wrong to kill someone so i think ild ignore them and keep praying for them or sth
everyone is talking bout the video of the beaten girls,lin please
Gay or not, he right to seek Asylum. And who is to say he is lying, the U.K government will have to decided that based on evidence apparent to them. But Linda since people here have said there is a video of people beaten up because the are lesbians, then he might just have a case.
I wish him luck with his case. I am Christian but I also believe in basic human right. And this guy has the choice to choose the way he wants to live his life.
@ OMO JEJE, I dont agree with any thing you have said at all.
@ Adebola and the other various anonymouses
This is the last comment i will make on this particular post - it will be at least as long, if not longer than the others but nobody is forcing you to read it. You are free to move on!
Here is a link you may want to look at:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/Nigerian_asylum_seekers_come_under_pressure.html?cid=8663426
This is the disservice people like Uche have done to our country so that every Tom, Dick and Harry in Switzerland thinks he is justified in abusing us.
Anyway, I am just commenting like everyone else. Wetin 'consign' me for the matter? This guy didn't use my paper/pen or computer to fill out his application and whether they give him asylum or not doesn't affect my life tomorrow or in the next decade.
You think asylum is yam? Of all the Nigerians we may know in America/UK/the-rest-of-Europe, there are precious few granted asylum after Abachas time? I would really be curious to find out if anyone reading this can claim to know even 1 such person.
I have said that gays are harrassed in Nigeria. Indeed, if you are gay in Nigeria, everything around you drums it into your ears that you should be very ashamed of yourself. Yes!, that is true. But asylum is for people who are victims of State-sponsored harrassment, torture etc. We are talking about Nigerian dissidents during military rule, Tutsis in Rwanda during the genocide, Turkish Kurds, Sudanese Darfuris, opposition party members in Zimbabwe and maybe even gays in Uganda. People who are harrassed by agents of the State (not by uncles, grandfathers or area boys)! They are imprisoned on trumped-up charges, have their property seized, family/clan/tribe members killed and their livelihood destroyed by the government of their country. They REALLY cannot live in their country.
So Adebola, a video of lesbians being beaten by people who have no connection to the local, state or federal government cannot help Uche.
To lay it out GBAM! - if this guy is scared of being killed by his uncle or the neighborhood thugs on return to Nigeria and he thinks that is what asylum is about then i guess all the people who live in the villages surrounding Jos should also line up and apply for asylum. And lets not forget all the residents of Aba who are being overrun by kidnappers/killers.
Of course Uche knows that at the very least he gets a 2-5yr reprieve from being deported by filing this merit-less case. In the meantime maybe he can find a citizen to get "married" to and then still achieve his original goal. More grease to his elbows.
Honestly, this is no different from West Africans in the nineties who were filing for asylum by claiming they were afraid that their daughters would be forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) if they were sent back. I don't believe (although i'm not 100% sure) that any of them were granted asylum. Cos the British are not stupid!
There is simple math (obviously there are also other considerations) involved in these issues. E.g., the prevalence rate (sadly) of FGM is 25% in Nigeria. It is > 90% in some contries like Sudan , Sierra Leone, Mali etc. So >90% of Malian women are in real danger of being killed while undergoing FGM...quite horrific. But guess what? The Malian Government does not systematically go around making sure that every girl is mutilated; so therefore this is not an asylum-claimable situation. There are ~ 7 million females in Mali cos their population is 14mill. You give 1 person asylum based on FGM and you potentially are inviting 7 million others to follow.
People throw about this estimate of 5% prevalence of homosexuality (which i do not believe) but 5% of Nigeria is conservatively at least 7 million people. If they give Uche asylum because he is a gay Nigerian we know (and they know also) that a good 15 miilion Nigerians will follow with applications, overruning the system and all claiming (in the short term) to be gay!
ngbo okoro boy,or wateva ur name is u had better get the asylum u seek oh,we go kill u last last na ni,we wont let u come mess up our kids,to those biffin naija on pages of blog....mtssscheww,well i,ll reserve ma comment for now,chi ke na!
I think it is extremely daft and border on hate speech to suggest that anyone, gay or otherwise does not have the right to be scarred! Fear, like love, joy and myriad other emotions is a subjective experience and to question someone's emotional or spiritual expresion is a violation of their human rights and dignity.
Now as to whether or not people believe the threats of violence & impending death Uche has experienced, I believe that is testament to the fact that the Nigerian climate is in reality dangerous for sexual minorities female or male. As a Nigerian, I believe our country has a long way to go in understanding the value of tolerance, acceptance and fostering a social culture that encourages and vehemently protects human dignity.
Bless your heart Lohbule. you have said it all. I see a lot of intolerance here. Sad. ...In fact that guy should just print out this page and show them at the embassy.
what people will do to get a visa to stay in wretched UK..psweech!
*snappinn my fingers over my head*tufiakwa,is it not animalistic how can you be attracted to some one of the same gender,hiaa,and its so effin obvious the dude's telling a lie
Anybody can get beat up or killed anywhere . Straight or gay.. Its just how you intereact with ur enviroment and people arround you.. I'm an open gay man in lagos here..even though I get harrased once in a while I know how to stand for my self and carriage that wouldn't warrant disrespect.. So its not an issue.. Everyone is in danger straight or gay
O Please Linda! Spare us the cr*p! You know as well as I do how we treat gays in Nigeria. I had this guy in my class in Unilag, and some 'friend'of his recorded a conversation they had in private, where he revealed to him that he was actually gay and shit. We all made his life hell (I'm not innocent), and he didn't even finish that year before he had to run away! This happens too many times here in Nigeria!
Nigerians harass gays all the time. It's sad
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