Commandant Mohammad Bello said his operatives prevented the wedding from taking place, stressing that the NSCDC has zero tolerance for social vices.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Gombe State on Friday said it arrested 76 persons including 21 persons found to be gays.
The NSCDC Commandant in the state in October paraded no fewer than 76 suspects following a tip-off on a same-sex birthday party and planned marriage.
Briefing journalists at the command’s headquarters on Thursday, Commandant Mohammad Bello said his operatives prevented the wedding from taking place, stressing that the NSCDC has zero tolerance for social vices.
He said 21 out of the 76 persons arrested are homosexuals.
He explained that upon the arrest of the 76 suspected homosexuals, they were filtered and profiled during the course of investigations to ascertain their status.
According to Tribune, Muhammad Bello asserted that it was after the due investigation that 21 of the suspects actually confessed to being homosexuals, stressing that efforts were ongoing to ‘reform them to make them better people’.
He said, “We identified those that were, directly and indirectly involved, fair enough, we decided to bail out those that were not directly involved.
“One thing significant is that, we did not impose the statuses on them, but rather, they identified themselves that they are homosexuals and that they want to transfer from being males to females.
“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 also disclosed that the Command approached health agencies to confirm their well-being, noting that some of the suspects were HIV positive.
“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 the General Hospital to confirm further about other areas, on whether they had other sickness only to realise that some of them have hepatitis.
“When they submitted the report, we asked for the typology of the hepatitis to be sure, then the results confirmed that some have hepatitis B,” Bello said.
While affirming 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 is that we are not subjecting them to prison treatment as some are circulating. The most thing is to opt for a better alternative towards reforming these people to become better human beings,” he stressed.
“The Gombe NSCDC will not contravene any existing laws or any rights that they are entitled to, as suspects, they are entitled to protection as enshrined in the law,” he added.
In Nigeria, homosexual acts are punishable by up to 14 years in prison based on an Act signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in January 2014.
Gay marriages and displays of same-sex affection are also outlawed in Nigeria.