An Associated Press (AP) report says the arraignment of seven of 11 men arrested for belonging to gay organizations was interrupted by protesters who threw stones in a northern Nigerian court and called for the men to be put to death.
According to AP, thousands of people were involved in the disruption of the shariah court proceeding in the city of Bauchi, with security officers eventually firing shots in the air to force the crowd to disperse.
President Goodluck Jonathan recently signed off on an anti-gay measure that further criminalizes homosexuality in Nigeria. Soon after came reports that dozens of people are being arrested in states in both the north and south of the country. Last week, a man in the northern state of Bauchi received 20 lashes after an Islamic court found him guilty of breaking laws against homosexuality, acts he reportedly committed seven years ago, the BBC reports.
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