Court grants 69 gays N.5m bail

The Delta State High Court sitting in Effurun has granted 69 gays apprehended during a gay wedding in Ekpan community, Uvwie Local Government Area (LGA) of the state bail.

The counsel for the suspects, Ochuko Ohimor, who made this known in the Warri area of Delta State on Tuesday, said they were admitted to bail with the sum of N500,000 and two sureties each.

Ohimor stated that the sureties must reside within the Effurun jurisdiction of the court.

He added that the suspects, who were arrested by the police on August 27, must sign an undertaking at the State High Court of Justice, Effurun, in Uvwie Local Government Area where they were earlier arraigned on September 4.

READ ALSO: 100 arrested for gay wedding in Delta

The police prosecutor, Vincent Orarumen, had opposed the bail condition but their lawyer argued otherwise, saying the alleged crime was not a capital offence.

The suspects were paraded before newsmen on August 29 at the Ekpan Police Station by the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Wale Abass.

They were arrested by police operatives attached to the Ekpan Division while conducting a gay wedding ceremony which they tagged, “all white party”.

The police commissioner, while parading the suspects, vowed to prosecute them in line with Nigeria’s Anti-Gay Law, which, according to him, prohibits same-sex marriage in the country.

“I can guarantee that they will be charged to court. We are not taking it lightly. It is a clear case, though, they are still presumed innocent until proven otherwise by the competent court,” Abass had said.

The Star