The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 5, AIG Musa Daura, has on Thursday paraded six men for allegedly engaging in acts of homosexuality at various locations in Benin, the Edo State capital. The suspects ; Festus Osagiede (24), Hyacinth Imahanrebhor (20), Itama Omon (25), Onwukwe Prince (28), Monye Chukwuma (23) and Osadebe Kelvin (26), according to Daura were arrested on May 9, 2016, by operatives of the zonal anti-vice section.
He said one of them, Osagiede, who is the leader of the gang, first committed the crime when he had carnal knowledge of the third suspect in 2006.
“After the third suspect (Itama) got drunk, Festus Osagiede took him to his house and forcefully had carnal knowledge of him.
“Since then, they have been committing the crime with others at large until May, 2016, when luck ran out of them and they swooped on by zonal detectives,” Daura said.
The youngest among the suspects, Hyacinth, said that he was forced into the act by Osagiede, whom he claimed also threatened to kill him if he told anyone about it.
He said, “It all happened late last year, when I was returning from a birthday party at night. I was unable to get public transport back home.
“I met Festus on my way; he asked me why I was roaming about. I said that I could pass the night at his place.
“That night, he touched me. In the course shouting at him, he forcefully penetrated me and it got me sick.
“He said that if I told anybody, he knows where to find me and my family, that he would kill me.”
However, the AIG who described the crime as abominable and an offence against nature and humanity, said the suspects would be charged to court on Friday.
