A wedding ceremony for a gay couple organized by their fellow homosexuals ended abruptly on Sunday, August 27, 2023, at about 9pm when when police operatives from Ekpan Division in Delta State Police Command stormed a hotel in Ekpan in Warri to put a stop to the illegal gathering.
Arrested were 67 suspected homosexuals, including the gay couple identified as Daniel Pius, a 22-year-old male who was the groom, and the bride, Maxwell Ohwonohwo, a male aged 20.
Disclosing this in a statement on Tuesday, August 29, the police spokesman, DSP Bright Edafe, said the discovery of the illegal ceremony, operatives of the divisional patrol team intercepted a male cross-dresser who claimed to be an actor.
When interrogated, the cross-dresser reportedly confessed to being a member of a certain gay club, telling the operatives that he was on his way to joining his fellow members for a gay marriage ceremony.
The PPRO said that the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Aliyu Shaba, promptly acted on the information and raided the hotel (name withheld), off Refinery Road, Ekpan, Warri, where the gay marriage ceremony was being held.
“As the operatives arrived at the said hotel, the gay members immediately took to flight in different directions. The policemen chased and arrested a total number of 67 suspects, both male and female, for allegedly conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony,” the image-maker stated.
Thenewsbearer learnt that when the venue of the unlawful event was searched, the operatives recovered a codeine bottle, three cups of refined Canadian loud, five sachets of SK (skunk), a sachet of tramadol, four tablets of molly drug, one crusher and gay marriage ceremonial dresses.
During investigation, one of the suspects named Abel Daniel, a male aged 23, revealed that when he was under the influence of alcohol, a male suspect currently at large had sex with him through his anus at the hotel.
The PPRO said: “The suspects and exhibits are in custody and efforts are intensified to ensure the arrest of the fleeing members for possible prosecution.”
Condemning the act, the Commissioner of Police, Wale Abass, warned that the state would not condone any sort of same-sex relationship, saying that marriage is valid only when it is contracted between a man and a woman.
He further warned that explicit or implicit public show of amorous relationships between people of the same sex is prohibited in the state, and that any act of defiance is detrimental and would lead to the prosecution of the deviants in accordance with Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013.
CP Abass encouraged members of the public to help the police uphold the moral standards of the society by being conscious of their environment, urging them never hesitate to provide credible and prompt information that would aid the maintenance of serenity within the command.
Members of the public were also entreated to call the police via the dedicated phone lines or reach out to the Police Public Relations Office for necessary action. The control room numbers are 08036684974, 08125958005 and 09053872287.
