by Colin Coward

Changing Attitude calls on the Primate and bishops of the Church of Nigeria to condemn attacks on homosexuals

A shocking story of mob violence has emerged which almost culminated in the death of one of the leaders of the Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) group in Port Harcourt. The violent attack occurred in the context of the funeral ceremony being held for the sister of Davis Mac-Iyalla, attended by six members of the Port Harcourt group on Thursday 20 March 2008.

The CAN Port Harcourt leader who was the subject of the attack said:

“I am in total shock and living in fear while feeling the pains I suffered in the hands of a mob group that attacked me at the Service of Songs for Davis’s late sister. While hymn singing was going on a muscular man walked up to me and asked me for a word outside the compound.

“The next thing I saw was a mob group who were there to attack me. They started slapping and punching me, kicked me on the ground and spat on me. I have never known fear like I knew when they were brutalizing me. I thought they were going to kill me there and then. While beating me they were shouting: ‘You notorious homosexual, you think can run away from us for your notorious group to cause more abomination in our land?’ Those who attacked me were well informed about us so I suspect an insider or one of the leaders of our Anglican church have hands in this attack.”

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By Tony Grew

The trial of eighteen young men in Nigeria charged with dressing in female clothing and attending a gay wedding may be part of a campaign to reintroduce legislation targeting lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

Cary Alan Johnson of the Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) was in Nigeria to meet the men and their lawyers.

He has expressed serious doubts as to whether the men can get a fair trial.

All aged between 18 and 21, they were detained by the Islamic "vice squad" at a hotel in Bauchi city, Nigeria in August 2007.

Bauchi is a Muslim state in the centre of Nigeria, with a population of 316,000.

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Bauchi, Nigeria - Africa Eighteen men arrested on charges related to sexual orientation in Bauchi state, Nigeria faced an adjournment today, as the government continued to stall given the weakness of their case and lack of evidence, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). The next hearing will be held on March 24, 2007.

The men, all between the ages of 18 and 21, were arrested on August 5, 2007, at a party at Benco Hotel along Tafawa Balewa Road by the Hisbah, the Islamic anti-vice squad. According to the charge sheet, at the time of arrest "the suspects were all dressed in female attire organizing a gay wedding which contravenes section 372 subsection 2(e) of the Islamic Sharia penal code." The men deny that they were dressed in female clothing or that they were organizing or attending a gay wedding. They argue that the event was a combination birthday/graduation party for a local man (who was not present at the time of the raid and has not been arrested) and the celebration of the marriage of his sister. Currently released on bail, the men have spent a total of 19 days in detention. The men were beaten, caned, and cursed by their jailors and court officers.

IGLHRC Senior Regional Specialist for Africa Cary Alan Johnson was in northern Nigeria last week to meet with the men and their defense attorneys prior to the hearing. According to Johnson, the arrest and prosecution of the Bauchi 18 shows just how much official discrimination LGBT people in Nigeria face and how the government targets sexual minorities.

"These men are being railroaded by the authorities," said Johnson. "Contradicting their own statements, the police first said that the men were all dressed in women's clothing, then that articles of female clothing and cosmetics were found in their belongings, which somehow proves that they were engaging in same sex marriage and homosexuality. The rhetoric of the police and court authorities are confusing, at best, and attempt to incite the public against the young men by conflating the concepts of 'homosexuality,' 'cross-dressing' and 'gay marriage'."

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Nigerian boy had never seen a running tap in his six years on earth.

Water demand is increasing three times as fast as the world’s population growth rate, and poverty is the single most important factor related to meeting that demand, said officials at the 3rd World Water Forum. Some 1.2 billion people lack safe water supply and 2.4 billion live without secure sanitation, according to Water Forum official figures. At least five million people die yearly from water related diseases, including 2.2 million children under the age of five. An estimated one half of people in developing countries are suffering from diseases caused either directly by infection through the consumption of contaminated water or food, or indirectly by disease carrying organisms, such as mosquitoes, that breed in water -- Environment News Service. Tinu Ayanniyi takes a look at water crisis as it affects Nigerians.

Patrick, six year-old son of the editor of a national newspaper in the country, Dapo and Omolara Johnson went to visit some family friends with his parents in one of the high brow areas of Ibadan city.

When the visitation ended, Patrick was nowhere to be found. A search party combed the big compound and Patrick was eventually found standing in front of a running tap, staring intently at it.

Everybody wondered at his action but all he was able to say was “daddy see. Water.” His embarrassed father got the message. His son had never seen a running tap in his six years on earth.

Appeal Court Nullifies Public Order Act.. will Gay Rights be Next?

By Funso Muraina and Chuks Okocha

The Court of Appeal in Abuja  put to rest the controversy surrounding public procession over whether or not there is a need for police permit. The court said it was no longer necessary to obtain permit before embarking on any assembly. In its judgment, the appellate court presided over by Justice Danladi Mohammad held that such police approval infringed on the fundamental human rights provided for in the 1999 Constitution. “The provision of the Act is unnecessary.

"We are in democracy and Nigeria has joined the league of civilised societies,'' Justice Olufunmilayo Adekeye who read the lead judgment said. Justice Adekeye said it was wrong to continue to rely on the colonial method of suppressing people from exercising and enjoying their rights under the guise of Public Order Act. The lead counsel to the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Mr. Femi Falana, had filed a suit on September 21, 2003, condemning the police for disrupting the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) rally at Kano with tear-gas.

The panel gave the judgment in an appeal by the Federal Government against the decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Justice Anwuri Chikere of the High Hourt had in 2005 nullified the Act on the ground that it was obsolete and a neo-colonialist rule. Dissatisfied with the decision of the lower court, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Nigerian Police Force had filed an appeal.

Davis Mac-Iyalla Speaks
Directly to the American LGBT Community

Davis Mac-Iyalla, director of Changing Attitude-Nigeria, was in high spirits as he rode in his first Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco with the Bishop of California, Marc Andrus. Parade Day was bright and sunny, and the procession was long and colorful, with large crowds held behind barricades lining Market Street; men, women, children, believers and non-believers, the whole huge panoply of God's creation. Parades are unknown in Nigeria, much less Gay ones. Davis had the time of his life.

Afterward Episcopalians gathered for the Pride Day Eucharist at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, where Bishop Marc preached an affecting sermon and commissioned Davis to continue his work among LGBTs in Nigeria and West Africa. The congregation, asked to support Davis in his ministry, shouted, "WE WILL!"

Everywhere he goes, Davis is greeted with enthusiasm. His personal charm, sense of humor and rhetorical gifts impress even his occasional detractors. He's adjusted well to the United States and constantly makes new friends.

But the story of LGBT Nigerians provokes many emotions: grief, anger, mourning and determination. No one should be scapegoated; no group should be told it has no right to exist.

Davis tells his story, but the issue is much larger and much smaller; it's about 14 million LGBT Nigerians who haven't yet gained his courage to come out and claim their place in family, church and nation.

Patiently God calls them, and one by one, they step into the light and ride with Davis up Market Street in San Francisco, the Gay Capital of the World where everyone is free.

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Davis Mac-Iyalla, 35, is founder and director of the country's only gay-rights organization, Changing Attitude-Nigeria, which advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the Anglican Church and elsewhere in Nigeria.

The Episcopal Church is the American wing of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes 80 million members in 154 countries. In 2003, the Episcopal Church consecrated the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop. Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola has been a leading critic against the ordination of gay bishops and the inclusion of GLBT persons in the life of the church.

A gay rights group who highlighted Nigeria's poor record on LGBT rights has said it is disappointed that the country did not win the right to hold the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

In August Davis Mac-Iyalla, founder and leader of the gay Christian group, Changing Attitude Nigeria, met with the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in London to put their case.

They presented the CGF with an 11-page report setting out why it should reject the bid by the Nigerian city of Abuja.

Last week it was announced that Glasgow will host the Games.

"Like most Nigerians we would have loved such an important international sporting occasion to come to our country," the group said in a statement.

"Some people may be tempted to accuse us of hypocrisy, as it was CAN that issued a damning report about Abuja's bid, almost as if determined to undermine Nigeria's chance of hosting the games.

"In fact, our disappointment is that the Nigerian government failed to respond to the issues we raised in time for the bidding process.

ABUJA (AFP) — The Nigerian government is suing three leading tobacco companies, seeking more than 40 billion dollars (29 billion euros) in damages for the cost of treating smoking-related diseases, according to court papers obtained Wednesday.

"It is the first time ever that an African state files a case against a tobacco company. No other state in Africa has ever done it," Babatunde Irukera, the lawyer representing the government told AFP.

"The exact amount the federal government is claiming is 5.3 trillion naira," (42 billion dollars) he told AFP.

The suit filed against British American Tobacco Plc, Philip Morris International and International Tobacco Ltd, a Nigerian company, accuses them of concealing the harmful nature of smoking and of promoting underage smoking.

"The amount is certainly high for Africa, but it is far lower than the amounts that have been claimed in the USA for example," Irukera said, adding that one US state had claimed 286 billion dollars compensation.

Irukera also represents Nigeria in its 6.5-billion-dollar suit against US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer Inc. for an alleged illegal drug trial.

The government is also seeking an injunction compelling the companies to stop the marketing and sale of cigarettes.

By Tadaferua Ujorha
Abuja

Women living with HIV/AIDS tell moving stories, as they battle stigma and alienation. Reports Tadaferua Ujorha, who was in Nnewi

In Nnewi, as in many other parts of the country, women living with HIV/AIDS are having a rough time, much more than their positive male counterparts. But some of them have chosen to fight back and assert their humanity in remarkable ways.Slowly, these women are reclaiming their voices, long silenced by a well cultivated stigma.


One of these women is Chika Eze (not real name) who though HIV positive, found true love, and recently got married .On the day this reporter met her at the hospital, she still radiates some of the joy and colour of her recent marriage. But there is another side to her story. Her husband is positive too, and she has found it necessary to hide a few details of her status from a few family members. These days a little secrecy has become necessary ,if you are HIV positive. She could easily tell the senior sister to her husband of her status, and only a few members of her immediate family are aware of her condition. She cannot, and will not tell her biological parents, and she bluntly tells this reporter 'My father may not be happy, and he may completely stop eating food prepared by me, my father won't eat my food, so I cannot tell him. My mother would certainly tell him one day if she knew of my status, and in the circumstances, I think it's better to keep quiet.' According to Chika, she tested positive for HIV/AIDS in the year 2000, and was falling ill quite regularly after that initial test. After a while she was linked up with the ACTION project at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where she has been placed on drugs and is much stronger than previously. She met her husband for the first time some two months ago, and is grateful to the dynamic support group at the hospital which has played a noble role in creating relationships among people living with HIV/AIDS. Some of these relationships have also resulted in marriages.

NIGERIA: Prelate says U.S. Anglican Church May Have to Leave over Homosexuality  North American Anglican leaders "seem to have concluded that the Bible is no longer authoritative"

Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, released a statement indicating that traditional conservative Anglicans may have to part ways with the liberal American Church over the issue of homosexuality.

Referring to the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada's move to accept same-sex "marriage," he stated, as reported in the Christian Post, "Their intention is clear; they have chosen to walk away from the biblically-based path we once all walked together."

Clearly indicating that faithful conservative Anglicans cannot accept a position that directly contradicts the teaching of the Bible, Akinola stated, "The moment of decision is almost upon us."

By Mustapha Shehu
Bauchi

Youth suspected to be gay, arrested a fortnight ago and arraigned before the Tudun Alkali Area Court in Bauchi, were yesterday stoned as they filed to enter the Black Maria that was to convey them back to prison.

The case, which was heard yesterday, attracted a large crowd of observers and journalists from foreign and local media, amidst heavy security provided by a joint team of the police and prison warders.

The high interest shown in the case might be due to insinuations that they may be executed if convicted.

Section 372 of the Bauchi Shari'a Penal Code Law 2001, under which they were charged, stipulates a maximum penalty of one year prison sentence and 30 lashes on conviction.

by Pat Ashworth

The Archbishop of Canterbury has added his voice to protests about threats made to the leaders of Changing Attitude, a pro-gay campaigning group.

The Revd Colin Coward, UK director of Changing Attitude, and his Nigerian counterpart, Davis MacIyalla, have both received death threats because “they are polluting Nigeria with abomination and immorality”. Over the Easter weekend, serious assaults were made on Changing Attitude supporters in Nigeria.

The statement from Dr Williams said that the threats were “disgraceful”. “The Anglican Communion has repeatedly . . . unequivocally condemned violence and the threat of violence against gay and lesbian people. I hope that this latest round of unchristian bullying will likewise be universally condemned.”

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Dr Williams criticised what he called "unchristian bullying"

The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned death threats made against the leader of a group representing homosexual Anglicans in England.

Dr Rowan Williams said threats against Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, marked the "latest round of unchristian bullying".

He was also criticising assaults on gay Anglicans in Nigeria.

His comments follow a global dispute over homosexuality in the worldwide Anglican Church in recent years.

The divisions in the church over homosexuality began with the ordination of a gay bishop by the liberal American branch of Anglicanism, the Episcopal Church, in 2003.

On one side are the conservative Anglicans who are adamant that ordaining gay clergy or blessing same-sex relationships in church is a sin, and on the other a coalition which insists on tolerance and inclusion of homosexual people.

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Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi, of the Jos province, (Anglican Communion), has denied allegations that the leader of a group representing "Anglican" homosexuals in the country was attacked.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja, Kwashi rebuffed a statement credited to the Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC) on the alleged attack.

Kwashi was reacting to an allegation by Mr Davis Mac-Iyalla, leader of Changing Attitude Nigeria, that homosexuals were being physically assaulted in the country.

Iyalla had requested the intervention of the ABC as the 'spiritual leader' of the global Anglican Communion.

According to Kwashi, the ABC criticised the alleged assaults on gay Anglicans in Nigeria , describing it as " latest round of unchristian bullying ."

However, the Jos archbishop said: "I have personally tried to discover the place or nature of the attacks and threats without success.

"It is wrong for Canterbury and a group of English Bishops to accuse the Church of Nigeria of being the perpetrator of a physical attack on the streets.

"If a Nigerian Bishop or church leader was mugged in England would the Archbishop of Canterbury or even the Church of England in general be blamed for this?"

He maintained that "the Church of Nigeria would not be bullied and was committed to the human rights of all people".

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