A Lagos court has thrown out a case against 47 men charged with public displays of affection with members of same-sex because of what the judge called the failure of prosecutors to appear in court and call witnesses.
The men were charged under a law introduced in 2014 that bans same-sex “amorous relationships, ” which carries a jail term of up to 10 years.
The men were arrested in a police raid on a Lagos hotel in Egbeda, a Lagos suburb in 2018. Police officers said the men were being initiated into a gay club, but the defendants said they were attending a birthday party.
Reuters reports that prosecutors failed to attend a hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos, having previously failed to present witnesses in a case that had been adjourned on several occasions.
Justice Rilwan Aikawa said he was dismissing the case because of the “lack of diligent prosecution.”
Before the court’s judgment, prosecution and defence lawyers in the case told Reuters that nobody had yet been convicted under the law. Some of the men previously told Reuters they had been stigmatized because of the hotel raid and a televised news conference held by the police in which they were identified the day after their arrest.