Earlier this month, President Jonathan put his signature to the controversial Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill into law. Condemned internationally as a fundamental breach of human rights, the law stipulates that anyone convicted of engaging in a same sex marriage is liable to serve 14 years in prison, while anyone aiding or abetting such relationships faces a 10 year jail term.
Human rights groups like Amnesty International have widely condemned the law as an infraction of Nigeria's human rights obligations and gay rights campaigners plan to picket Nigeria's high commissions and embassies worldwide.
Also, the campaigners are calling on Nigeria's trading partners to boycott Nigerian goods and spurn tourism with the country. Defiant, however, the Nigerian authorities have stepped up their campaign against homosexuals and so far this week, the police in Bauchi have arrested 38 people suspected of being gay.
It is likely that they will be charged under the new law in what will be a controversial trial attracting international attention.
