by Rachel Ogbu

Nigeria’s web portal, www.nigeria.gov.ng was on Thursday night attacked by a group of gay rights activists, the Ministry of Information has said.

In a recent statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information, Joseph Mutah, the attack was dealt with on time by the ministry.

According to reports, on Friday, Mutah said that additional measures would be taken to prevent such attacks in the future.

“The attackers were traced to the same group that recently attacked several countries’ government websites across the world, claiming to be fighting for gay rights,” he said.

“The attacks are a criminal attempt to blackmail countries which have resisted pressures by homosexuals to legalise gay marriages as is practised in some countries to do same.

“While we recognise that Nigeria is a full-fledged democracy with robust guarantee of freedom of opinion by all citizens, it is criminal for anyone within or outside our country to use criminal means to express or canvass such opinions. The Ministry of Information will liaise with security agencies to investigate last night’s attack.

“Nigeria is a highly cultured and religious society, whose people remain overwhelmingly opposed to the imposition of gay rights and marriages as practised in some countries.

“Those seeking to impose gay rights from abroad are advised to stick to legal and constitutional means of expressing their opinions as the government will not condone criminal violations of our laws by any group in the guise of promoting gay rights in the country.”