President Jonathan pardons army major, Bello Magaji convicted of homosexual rape

by Rachel Ogbu

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Many now believe that President Goodluck Jonathan is definitely sending disturbing missed signals after news that he granted a state pardon to former army Major, Bello Magaji, convicted and sentenced to five years jail term for sodomy, another name for homosexuality, by a military Court [General Court Martial] in 1996.

Magaji’s pardon, coming at a time that Senate is working towards a law that criminalises gay unions. the Senate President, David Mark, in February said there was no turning back on the proposed law, he even defended the anti-gay announcing at a conference for Catholic bishops that the senate will lead the fight against homosexuality in the country.

It was reported that Mark who attended the meeting where the state pardon was given did not oppose it.

According to reports, Magaji, a former military police officer attached to the Lagos Garrison Command, was convicted for serial homosexual intercourse with four students of the Army Cantonment Boys Secondary School in Ojo Cantonment in Lagos. The teenagers were Mohammed, Joseph, Emmanuel, and Isaac, according to court records obtained by PREMIUM TIMES who withheld the surnames names of the victims since they were teenagers at the time of the incident. Download full judgment here.

It wasn’t just the sexual act, but the reports reveal that the teenagers from ‘under privileged homes’ were also intoxicated before sex and were paid to meet family obligations afterwards.

“He said I shouldn’t worry that I should go and bath. After my bath he gave me N1500.00k and said I should give Oscar N500.00k for bringing me. Then when I came out I gave Oscar N500.00k and it remained N1000.00k. Out of the N1000.00k Oscar collected N100.00k and it remained N900.00k. From the N900.00k, I bought things paid small small credit I was owing and bought school uniform for myself,” one of the teenagers had reportedly said.

Many critics believe there was no reason to grant such a man state pardon. In 2008, five Justices lead by Justice Niki Tobi affirmed Magaji’s five-year jail term after Tobi in his judgement  he said that “carnal knowledge with the male sex is against the order of nature and here, nature should mean God and not just the generic universe that exists independently of mankind or people.” The order of nature is “carnal knowledge with the female sex.”

As the Supreme Court records showed, Magaji was not only engaged in gay sex which would have been consensual, but actually he was engaged in a homosexual rape.

“The common evidence of Emmanuel and Joseph is that they were asked to drink a bottle each of small stout which intoxicated them; it was in their state of intoxication that the appellant performed the dirty act of sodomy on Emmanuel, and others, the Supreme Court report narrated.

According to reports; the Court had presented frightening accounts of Magaji as a sex pervert.

The following testimony of one of the teenagers project a horrifying experience, one that will worry many who are trying to understand President Jonathan’s mind with respect to this particular pardon.

“When I went inside, I saw Joseph with Oga Magaji. Then Oga asked me my name, and then I told him my Joseph (sic) said yes so he asked Joseph if he knew me and Joseph said yes so he said I should go inside and sit down. Then when we went inside, I saw Mohammed and he said it has been long he was inside, he overslept. Then I asked Joseph the time they came there. Joseph said it has been long, that Mohammed took a bottle of Gulder that’s why he went asleep.

“By then, Sam came in, brought a bottle of small stout and gave me to drink, but I said I didn’t want to drink because I was not used to it, but he said if I don’t drink it I wouldn’t work for Oga, he will not accept me. Then he opened the small stout for me. I took a little out of it and it was bitter, I couldn’t take it, so I gave it to Joseph Unigbe who took the rest.

“After 5 minutes my eyes were turning me Joseph said me and Mohammed should go inside the bedroom to take a bath so that our eyes will stop turning us we accepted took our bath and when we wanted to put our cloths on, Joseph brought out one Army singlet, shirt and nicker, and a night gown and he said we should put them on we asked him why. He said we could not go home that patrol will hold us, that we had to sleep till the following day so we accepted and put them on. Then he showed us the guest room that we should go inside that that is where we were going to sleep.

“All of us went inside the guest room, suddenly, Joseph went outside saying he was going to collect something from the sitting room. When he went out, just immediately he went out then Maj. Magaji came inside the room.”

 

Comments (5)

  1. "Those that gods will destroy they first made mad" and the Dog that refuses to hear the hunter's whistle will end up missing".

  2. this our president don’t forget say him be the NO1 citizen
    of the country, no be him fault, to be frank him just they do wat thing him like.

    the man don dey confuse, he no easy to rule a country like nigeria

  3. Please look over this article. You have included one of the boys’ last name in paragraph 12. Might want to remove it in accordance with your policy!

  4. this man has fallen short of ideas now God we just pray he doesnt drag the nation with him

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