Nigeria

Over the last decade, the state of LGBTIQ human rights in Nigeria has deteriorated. Same-sex intimacy is illegal throughout the country under the Federal Criminal Code Act (2004) and the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act (1959). Furthermore, twelve northern states in the country have adopted Shariah, punishing same-sex relations with death and criminalizing gender expressions that do not correspond with gender norms associated with the sex assigned at birth. In 2014, the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (SSMPA) was signed into law. The Act criminalizes same-sex marriage and displays of affection between people of the same gender and imposes a 10-year prison sentence on anyone who “registers, operates, or participates in gay clubs, societies, and organizations.” Nigerian LGBTIQ organizations, led by The Initiative for Equal Rights, have successfully contested this provision in the High Court, but it remains to be seen if the Corporate Affairs Commission will register an openly LGBTIQ organization. The SSMPA also prescribes a penalty for people who know about or “abet” same-sex relationships, thus criminalizing the friends and families of LGBTIQ people. Following this law, LGBTIQ Nigerians have been subjected to arbitrary arrests, harassment, and extortion by police and government officials. 

In December 2024, the Federal Government introduced revised regulations through the Harmonised Armed Forces Terms and Conditions of Services, prohibiting military personnel from engaging in "homosexuality, lesbianism, and bestiality” and “belonging to or engaging in activities of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual or Agender, Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) group and cross-dressing, amongst others.” 

Cases of harassment and violence at the hands of private individuals are common, including killings, kidnapping, mob violence, sexual violence, and conversion practices. In North-East Nigeria, where armed conflict and mass displacement exist, LGBTIQ people face harm experienced by all conflict-affected people. At the same time, however, they are less able to report gender-based violence and experience additional harms, including societal and familial exclusion and violence, brutality, and extortion by state actors. Government officials regularly make public comments denigrating LGBTIQ individuals, contributing to Nigeria's pervasively anti-LGBTIQ sentiment. 

Intersex people face a wide range of human rights abuses in Nigeria, including intersex genital mutilation, particularly in the larger cities. Abandonment of intersex children takes place, particularly in the country’s more rural areas.

*Outright research indicates that the bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected and protected in this country.