Fears for Nigerian activist

A UK charity has expressed grave concerns about the police harassment of a Nigerian human rights activist who has made a staunch public defence of gay and lesbian rights in the country.
The Pink Triangle Trust (PTT), a gay humanist charity, said Leo Igwe and members of his family have been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment by police involving multiple arrests on unsubstantiated charges since 2007.
Igwe is the executive secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement. In 2006 he made an impassioned appeal to members of the Nigerian National Assembly not to pass a Bill that would criminalise gay marriage and impose a five-year jail sentence on anyone who has a gay relationship or anyone who aids or supports a gay marriage or relationship.
PTT secretary George Broadhead said Igwe was fearless and selfless in fighting for justice for gay and lesbian people.
“It is up to his fellow humanists and others concerned with human rights to show that he does not stand alone and to work together to ensure justice for him,” Broadhead said.
The PTT has sent a letter of protest to Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, the Nigerian High Commissioner in the UK, and asked the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights to issue a public condemnation.