10,000 homosexuals exist in Nigeria�Daily Trust
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
http://www.mtrustonline.com/dailytrust/nigeria09092003.htm
The Nigerian society may be averse to men having sex with men (MSM), or homosexuality, but at least 10,000 of them exist in the country, according to an official and a homosexual.
Their act is fuelling the prevalence of HIV in the country because of their risky behaviour, according to Mr. Adejare Odumuye, an MSM of Alliance Rights Nigeria, an NGO.
Odumuye, 35, said that many homosexuals have wives and bear children while still keeping their network of male sexual partners, thereby constituting a major route of HIV transmission.
Apart from multiple sexual partners, MSM also engage in unprotected anal and oral sex while the hidden nature of sexual relations among them contribute to the prevalence of HIV, he said.
He spoke in Abuja at a training workshop organised by Internews Network, Local Voices Project, a USAID-funded programme in support of open media worldwide.
Odumuye said that in a survey conducted in 2001 by the NGO, it was discovered that 1,086 men having sex with men died of AIDS-related diseases between 1999 and 2001 in the country.
The survey was conducted in cities with high prevalence of MSM such as Abuja, Kano and Yobe in the northern part and Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt in the southern part, he said.
"The stigmatisation and discrmination of MSM in Nigeria feeds the secrecy in which they live and socialise, thereby increasing their risk-taking," he said.
He explained that the lack of water-based lubricants forces men to use oil-based lubricants for sexual activity, jeopardising the integrity of condoms which break easily during intercourse.
"All these have implications for the sexual and reproductive health of women, children and the general population," he said.
According to Odumuye, the criminalisation of homosexuality and the violence visited on men having sex with men also contributes to the prevalence of HIV and AIDS among men.
He told journalists to study them to know them better, adding that a Kano-based MSM who had five wives and about 500 male partners died in 2000 because of his promiscuous lifestyle.
He stated that homosexual practice could be genetic, sociological or learned, comprising "normal human beings with a different sexual orientation."
NAN reports that apart from the aversion, lawyers say it is an offence to engage in an act of homosexuality in Nigeria.
But in spite of measures to curb HIV prevalence in Nigeria, about 4 million people, including homosexuals, are said to be living with the virus, out of a population of 126 million.
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10,000 Nigerians Are Gays - Survey
This Day
September 11, 2003
http://www.thisdayonline.com/
The Nigerian society may be aversed to men having sex with men (MSM), or homosexuality, but at least 10,000 of them exist in the country, said an official and a homosexual.
Their act is fuelling the prevalence of HIV infection in the country because of their risky behaviour, said Mr. Adejare Odumuye, an MSM of Alliance Rights Nigeria, an Non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Odumuye, 35 years old, said that many homosexuals had wives and bore children while still keeping their network of male sexual partners, thereby constituting a major route of HIV transmission.
Apart from multiple sexual partners, MSM also engage in unprotected anal and oral sex while the hidden nature of sexual relations among them contribute to the prevalence of HIV, he said.
He spoke in Abuja at a training workshop organised by Internews Network, Local Voices Project, a USAID-funded programme in support of open media worldwide.
Odumuye said that
in a survey conducted in 2001 by the NGO, it was discovered that 1,086 men having sex with men died of AIDS-related diseases between 1999 and 2001 in the country.
The survey was conducted in cities with high prevalence of MSM such as Abuja, Kano and Yobe in the Northern part and Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt in the Southern part, he said.
"The stigmatisation and discrmination of MSM in Nigeria feeds the secrecy in which they live and socialise, thereby increasing their risk-taking," he said.
He explained that the lack of water-based lubricants forces men to use oil-based lubricants for sexual activity, jeopardising the integrity of condoms which break easily during intercourse.
"All these have implications for the sexual and reproductive health of women, children and the general population," he said.
Odumuye revealed that the criminalisation of homosexuality and the violence visited on MSM also contribute to the prevalence of HIV and AIDS among
men.
He told journalists to study them to know them better, adding that a Kano-based MSM who had five wives and about 500 male partners died in 2000 because of his promiscuous lifestyle. He said homosexual practice could be genetic, sociological or learned, comprising "normal human beings with a different sexual orientation."
Apart from the aversion, lawyers say it is an offence to engage in an act of homosexuality in Nigeria.
But in spite of measures to curb HIV prevalence in Nigeria, about 4 million persons, including homosexuals, are said to be living with the virus, out of an estimated population of 126 million.
