Benue State has 99 problems, and outlawing same sex marriage is the priority
The Benue House of Assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill to prohibit marriage contract between persons of same sex in the state.
Cited as Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Law, 2018, the bill was passed at plenary after a clause by clause consideration by the Committee of the whole presided by the Speaker, Mr Terkimbi Ikyange (pictured above).
According to the bill, “a marriage contract or civil union entered into between persons of same sex shall not be solemnised in a Church, Mosque or any other place of worship in Benue’’.
The bill also prohibited the registration or recognition of gay clubs, societies and organisations, their sustenance, procession and meeting as well as public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly. It stipulated that any person who entered into a same sex marriage contract or civil union commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of 14 years imprisonment.
Speaking after the third reading of the bill, the Speaker said same sex union was alien to the culture and tradition of the State and has to be prohibited.
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11 Comments
Bigfoot
May 31, 07:06I’m angry af rn.
The HoA in Benue has been sitting on the State Health Insurance bill for a while now but a bill targetting gay people is being passed with the speed of light.
The Governor recently moved to sell of 80% of state assets. Nobody said shit. Suspected herdsmen ravaged Naka, a community on the outskirts of Makurdi on Sunday yet NOTHING has been done save the targeting of gay people.
Little wonder nothing works in Benue. I’m particularly worried that HCT/ART sites for LGBTQ persons may be targeted. Time to warn CiSHAN and NEPHWAN.
Pink Panther
May 31, 07:08This is our country. Where actual issues that threaten the welfare of Nigerians is put on the back burner while things that shouldn’t matter are tackled.
Rehoboth
May 31, 07:10Sigh!
Francis
May 31, 07:16The country wide ban no do them, they had to make their own. Anything any rubbish to show you’re working sha. I look forward to the day Nigerians see beyond this bullshit.
KingBey
May 31, 08:10Isn’t there a similar federal law already? I thought they have security issues to deal with which should be their priority for now. Not stressing over gay men and their activities
Wytem
May 31, 08:13I hope this new law deals decisively with the menace of herdsmen in the state
Naijatgal
May 31, 08:52I was going to vent about this discriminatory legislation, but I realised that educating the masses about what it means to be us is very crucial at this point.
A lot of us don’t even care about the term marriage and those of us who do care about it know better not to get married in a country like Nigeria.
Who would prefer to be LGBTI if they had a choice at birth? They need to be constantly reminded that we are their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, even father’s and mothers; not some bunch of mutants shipped from abroad to “corrupt” their children.
Backed by only religious texts written centuries ago, people in power will choose irrational hate over understanding and pass frivolous laws that target a minority…we must continue to insist on the absurdity of this lazy choice.
Let’s align with the bigger voices around the world to educate Nigerian people on the dangers of playing politics with our lives and we must come together in solidarity for one another.
Canis VY Majoris
May 31, 10:18Isn’t it this same Benue herdsmen have displaced people and ruined lives.
Who did us like this ??
Dunder
May 31, 14:24Honestly, I am very happy about this bill. Firstly, there is no same-sex marriage prohibition act that has been passed at the federal level and thus, automatically, the Benue legislature have taken a bold and needed step to protect their ever declining, unprotected population.
Secondly, there is empirical evidence of all the herdsmen, be they Fulani, Nigerien or whatever, being gay- this is the real gay agenda. They are propagating genocide with their pink AK-47s and their rain of rainbow bullets. While these living abominations are sashaying about like angels of death, the decline of agriculture and absence of a modern transportation network has been assigned to lesbians. You see them bouncing and swagging all over town setting farms ablaze, destroying tractors and upturning bitumen from the roads. That pothole that nearly swallowed you yesterday? They dug it. Why you don’t have a radio alert system that saved lives in rural areas like during the Rwandan genocide? Lesbians are kicking them down with their Timberland boots. They have covered your transformer with their bewitched checkered shirts- y’all will never have light again.
Since these bold and erudite members of the house have headed to Abuja to protest Buhari’s tone-deafness and blindness to anything not Muslim and/or Fulani; since they have summoned a the press to publicly berate their party and governor for playing politics with the lives of Benue people and being accomplices to the ongoing holocaust in Nigeria by their silence in the face of evil; since they have enacted and passed laws and acts that would secure the lives of citizens and their farmlands, this is the next logical step.
In addition, let us remember that sex and romance are political and economic issues. So you want the boyfriends of these men in the state assembly to start demanding cars as proposal presents? You know how quickly we Nigerians learn bad thing. Only God knows how many kept women read their Mummy G.Os the riot act after hearing how lavishly Apostle Sule-Woman kept Ms. Okeke. How much is a duplex in Makurdi or a brand new Venza? Do you think you can compare Lagos’s budget to the few shillings allocated to Benue? I advice other poor states to copy this initiative as a matter of personal interest.
Lastly, please how will we increase the number of people available for the herdsmen target practice before the real war starts in Nigeria? Benue has been a dependable shooting range since the Obasanjo days and uncontrolled recreation is necessary if these herdsmen are to get sufficient training. Thank you.
Wonda Buoy
June 01, 07:35I hereby present to you: the winner of the sarcasm contest of the year. Nna, you Sabi well well
Marc Francis of Chelsea
June 01, 10:40It actually makes me laugh that people will be shouting very good to this. Never has it been so clear that this issue is being used as a smoke screen. They are passing a law at their state level that is already federal law, while actually laws that are pertinent to the welfare of the people e.g. healthcare aren’t even at the final stages. Bravo!
Btw, love the headline.