Sodomy In The News: The Gay Medical Doctor And The 16 Year-Old Student

Source: Daily Graphic http://www.graphic.com.gh

There’s a news story making its way through the Ghanaian media about a medical doctor who had sex with a senior high school student and infected him with HIV. The major legal issue is that they had sex when the boy in question was 15 and therefore under the age of consent. Currently homosexuality is one of the most controversial and sensational topics that one will find discussed in the media and by the public and usually the LGBTIQ people involved are usually young, flashy and feminine gay men who are bold enough to come forward and speak their mind. This is the first time in a long time someone considered a ‘respectable’ member of society has been involved in such a story. 

 

1118 Days of Night

The violent Islamic sect Boko Haram marked three years (and some days) of escalating terror in Nigeria last weekend by attacking students of an agricultural university as they slept in their beds. These militants (who were allegedly called “freedom fighters” by a misguided European reporter a couple of years ago) entered into the student hostels during the night and began firing off shots into the darkness where the students slept. I am not a crying person but my body aches when I think of the number of young people who went to sleep and never saw morning, all for nothing. I cannot imagine the pain their families and friends must be going through. How anyone can justify the killing of young people is beyond me. The death toll stands at 40.

This was their second such attack in less than two weeks. In the beginning it seemed their targets were Christians and other representatives of “western” education, they have actually killed just as many Muslims and destroyed property irrespective of tribal, religious or other affiliation. In this last attack, every single student was Muslim. Several statesmen have been called out as being supporters of this group and although no conclusive evidence has so far been found, I don’t believe that they do not have support from some political elements. As the old, often-quoted saying goes there is no smoke without fire. Since the prison break in September 2010, over 700 people have been killed by the attacks and the government does not seem capable of tacking this issue, which at this point, the most critical problem facing northern Nigeria. Already people have begun moving south and into neighbouring Niger to escape the constant threat of death. Recent university graduates who are from other regions of Nigeria no longer want to take part in the Youth Corps program because of the fear of being sent to the north and dying in a bomb blast or other violent act and most graduates regularly seek re-deployment if sent there.

I hope the souls of these students and people killed by this sect find peace in the after life.

 

Immortalizing Evil

The media has been awash with the news of four Nigerian university students who were murdered at the hands of a mob last week because they were alleged to be armed robbers. There are different variations of the story – some account say they went to accost another student who owed them some money whilst others say they extorted property from the said student who then began to shout “Thieves” after they left. The end result was that these boys were  stripped naked, beaten and and then burned alive in the name of ‘punishing’ criminals. To top it all, there were a lot of people watching all this go down and one of them had the gall to make a video and upload it. I certainly didn’t know any of the boys but I have not been able to focus on anything else since. I am filled with a deep sense of sadness that young people could meet such a gruesome death in 2012 and a sense of fear/horror that there are human beings who could do this to another person. No one deserves to die like this, certainly not for the mobile phone and laptop they were alleged to have taken. But what really kills my spirit is that there were other people watching and they did nothing to help these boys.

May their souls find rest.

I’ve thought hard about whether or not to post a link to the video but I decided to do so because I didn’t appreciate the gravity of this crime until I saw it. I couldn’t sleep last night and I don’t know if tonight will be any better.

**DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK UNLESS YOU ARE TRULY CERTAIN YOU WANT TO VIEW THE VIDEO**

Edit: The Nigerian Police have so far arrested at least 13 people associated with the crime. Read more here