BY COLLINS CHUKWUEZE
AGBOR (Delta) A middle-aged man who is alleged to be a gay suspect, was beaten to death by angry mob in Agbor, Delta State recently.
The incident occurred on March 1,216 in front of Royal Infinity Hotel in the Umunede area of the city.
The victim and his fleeing partner who have been identified as Anthony Ikeduba and Kelvin Emuebie (aka Fine Boy) were alleged to be engaged in illicit sexual behaviour in public when they were spotted by some persons.
THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER learnt that the duo were frolicking inside the hotel bar and later started kissing each other passionately.
They were however challenged when a waiter in the hotel raised an alarm that the victim and his partner were homosexuals.
The word homosexuals immediately stirred up anger among the crowd. Both men were then dragged to a corner where some youths began beating them with sticks and metal objects, inflicting injuries on them.
As shouts of homo rented the air, more people were attracted to the scene. Then there was confusion as some sympathisers struggled to rescue them from the angry and frenzy crowd. In the midst of the confusion,one of them was said to have escaped with battered body.
The police were later called in when it became obvious that the second suspect was dying as a result of the injuries inflicted on him. But it was too late as he died on the spot.
Meanwhile, members of the local vigilante group and the police have reportedly launched a manhunt for the fleeing gay suspect. The police in a statement, appealed to members of the public with any useful information that migt lead to the arrest of Emuebie Kelvin to the report to the nearest police station within and outside the state.
Homosexuality or same- sex relationship is considered an abomination and forbidden by many ethnic groups in Nigeria.
It is also a criminal offence and offenders are liable to 14 years imprisonment.
