The Nigeria Police has renewed a manhunt for a Lagos resident, Ishola Akeem Alamie, who is wanted in connection with an alleged case of unlawful carnal knowledge of the same gender, otherwise known as homosexuality.
Under section 214 of the Criminal Code, homosexuality or carnal knowledge against the order of nature carries a punishment of up to 14 years imprisonment, while an attempt to commit such acts prescribes up to seven years in prison.
Police sources disclosed that the case stemmed from the arrest of Alamie, an Osun State indigene, on 30th January 2022, after being caught having sex with his alleged partner, Oluwatobi Adeniyi at his (partner’s) home in Sunshine Estate, Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos.
The wife of the alleged partner, Funmilayo, who caught both men having intercourse raised an alarm at the shocking scene, and both men were subsequently subjected to jungle justice and mobbed by yet-to-be-identified persons in their neighbourhood as they attempted to flee.
A passing police patrol team happened upon the commotion, dispersed the mob and took Alamie to the police station while his partner, who reportedly sustained head injuries and was bleeding profusely, was taken to the hospital.
However, the matter took a tragic turn when Funmilayo Adeniyi, the wife of Alamie’s partner, came to report at the same station that her husband had died just hours after admission and demanded the arrest of the assailants.
It was learnt that an investigation was opened to ascertain the circumstances of the incident, and Alamie was released on bail on 2nd February, 2022, after about three days in detention following the intervention of a human rights lawyer.
The suspect was, however, asked to report back in three days for further investigations and possible arraignment in court.
However, the suspect failed to turn up as instructed, leading to a formal invitation by the Divisional Police Officer at the Abattoir Police Station, Agege, on 9th February, delivered to his last known address given as 29 Musili Street, Old Oko Oba Road, Agege. Another invitation by the Quick Response Team of the same station on 26th May 2022 was also not honoured.
Citing pressure from the wife and other family members of the deceased partner, who claimed that those who assaulted the duo must be fished out, the police investigator, Assistant Superintendent Adekola Oguntolu, extended another invitation to the suspect’s wife, Oluwakemi Alamie, on 11th November 2022. Still, she was not able to produce her husband.
Upon questioning, the woman claimed that the suspect had fled and remained incommunicado. She also claimed that the suspect had become estranged from family members, who considered his acts as haram, which was unacceptable to the Islamic faith apart from being illegal.
However, the police authorities, at the weekend, denied that attempts were being made to sweep the matter under the carpet, insisting that the case was still active despite the effluxion of time, and the suspect was being sought to answer for his alleged crimes, being a repeat offender.
Police investigators said that before the 2022 incident, Alamie had been detained briefly at the Alakuko police station after being caught in a compromising situation with another man in a toilet while attending a party at a hotel somewhere in Sango Ota, but was let off the hook after being warned to be of good behaviour.
The lead investigator assured: “we will arrest him no matter how long it takes. Criminal cases are not time bound. He can run but he cannot hide. He will be caught eventually and made to face the full weight of the law.”
