….as govt reconstitutes multi-sectoral Reformation Committee
Out of the 76 persons arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Gombe, about 21 have been confirmed as homosexuals.
Recall that the 76 persons were arrested by operatives of the Corps at Duwa plaza along Bauchi-Gombe expressway, where it allegedly botched a same-sex marriage.
Disclosing this on Thursday in an interview with our correspondent shortly after a meeting by Reformation Committee, chaired by retired Khadi Baba Liman, Commandant Muhammad Bello, said upon the arrest of the 76 they were filtered during investigation.
According to him, it was after due investigation that the 21 confessed to being homosexuals, adding that efforts were on to reform them.
He said, “We identified those that were directly and indirectly involve; fair enough we decided to bailout those that were not directly involved. One thing significant is that we didn’t impose the statuses on them but rather they identified themselves that they are homosexuals and that they want to transfer in being a male to female.
“They exhibited this in so many platforms by showing the desire to change their sexes which is uncalled for and not desirable. Currently, while we were able to come up with 21 of them because previously they were 22 in number but checking them closely we realised that a child of about 12-13 years was among them so we decided to take him out of the midst.”
He disclosed that the command approached health agencies to confirm their well-being, noting that there were positive cases among the suspects.
“We approached Gombe State AIDS Control Agency to confirm their statuses. We realised that there were some that have contracted HIV. We also took them to General hospital to confirm further about other areas now on whether they had other sickness only to realise some of them have hepatitis when they submitted the report we asked for the typology of the hepatitis to be sure then we result confirmed that some have hepatitis B,” Bello added.
While affirming to the respect of human rights, Bello noted that the command would continue to respect fundamental human rights.
“What I want the entire world to know we are not subjecting them to prison as some are circulating. The most things is to opt for better alternative towards reforming these people to become better human being. The Gombe NSCDC will not contravene any existing laws or any right that they are entitled to as a suspect they entitled to protection as enshrined in the law,” he said.
On the essence of the multi-sectoral committee set up by Gombe State Government, Bello said “it’s a way forward for reformation. The idea is on how to see how they (suspects) can be reformed.”
Also speaking, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Gombe chapter Joseph Shinga, urged government to support the suspects towards becoming better residents, adding “they can still be reformed to better persons.”
