Delta, Nigeria - August 29 - (Mediaage NG News) - About 200 gay men were on Monday arrested at an event in the Nigerian state of Delta, the country’s police said.
They were arrested around 02:00 am after officers stopped a man dressed as a woman late on Sunday evening.
Sixty-seven of the arrested will be charged after investigations.
They were paraded before journalists on Tuesday.
However, some of them denied they are homosexual and claimed to be fashion designers, photographers and models who had been invited to an event.
One of the men said they had been locked up for days without water and access to their phones. But, the police confirmed that the man initially told them he was an actor, but later said he belonged to a gay society and he was having an event at a hotel.
DSP Bright Edafe, police spokesman said homosexuality would “not be allowed in Nigeria, it will never be tolerated”.
“This act is evil and we cannot copy the Western world,” he said.
Two suspects were allegedly found dressed as bride and groom at the venue and the police said they had found a video recording of a wedding.
But, both men denied the accusations, saying they were neither crossdressers nor gay.
One said he was a fashion designer and that the clothes the police claimed was a “groom’s outfit” was a design he was modelling at the event.
The other man, who was dressed in a bride’s outfit, said he had been invited to model at the event and denied the police accusations.