Muyiwa Adejobi, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) spokesperson,has stated the Force’s (NPF) stance on certain moral issues and crossdressing in Nigeria.
Adejobi, in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today Tuesday, April 2, suggested that crossdressing is not an offense in Nigeria.
In April 2022, The House of Representatives introduced a bill banning crossdressing with an amendment to the Same-Sex (Prohibition) Act. The amendment was sponsored by Muda Umar (APC, Bauchi), who sought to amend sections 4 and 5 of the act.
This bill, if passed into law, could affect popular crossdressers like Bobrisky and James Brown.
Adejobi’s remarks come in the wake of Bobrisky’s infamous ‘Best Dressed Female’ award at the ‘Ajakaju’ movie premiere, which churned out countless controversies.
“There are some cases that are always very difficult to prove. I’m not ruling out that we have many of them, but if, for instance, you want to prove the case of rape, it has points to prove, and if any of these points are missing, you may lose your case in court.
“Let us be reasonable; you can’t prosecute someone without credible evidence against them. I don’t think crossdressing is a crime in Nigeria because I have not read anywhere where crossdressing is an offense in Nigeria,” Adejobi told the show’s host, Seun Okinbaloye.
He, however, said there were allegations against certain crossdressers regarding their involvement in punishable offenses he tagged “unnatural offenses.”
He emphasized that individuals who engaged in criminal activities in the name of crossdressing would be duly prosecuted.
“That’s where the problem lies, and we need evidence that they’re actually into all those offenses, which are ‘unnatural’ in Nigeria and are punishable under the law,” Adejobi said.
(Premium Times NG)
