“I STITCHED MY ANUS THRICE, WORE DIAPERS FOR MANY YEARS” – REPENTANT NIGERIAN GAY

Homosexuality is an increasing menace in the Nigerian society like in many other countries of the world. In some places,

the practice has been legalised and in those places, it has had great disruption to the basis of their societal life and Nigeria stands such risks. CHIJIOKE IREMEKA reports

“I had my anus sutured three times while I was practising homosexual. That was the price I had to pay for such ignorance. The first suture was in South Africa. There, it wasn’t a problem because people don’t give a damn but coming back to Nigeria was a clash of culture and my religion,” said an ex-gay master, who turned a new leaf, Emmanuel Stephens. Emmanuel Stephens is one of a rising number of Nigerian young graduates, who venture into odd jobs to make ends meet.

A graduate of Theatre Arts, University of Calabar, Emmanuel went to South Africa in search of greener pastures, but fell in the hands of late Johnson, a gay, whom he served for four and quarter years. Emmanuel, who was coerced into the fraternity, according to him, said when he got back to Nigeria and met a particular doctor for the second round of anus suture, he knew his time was up, following the doctor’s counseling…

The doctor brought him to the realm of conscience and culture. He noted that such suture was a painful procedure but the money involve didn’t afford him a chance to see. He said: “I was forced into the practice by my master, who was a drug dealer. He gave me all that I needed just to be his partner. As I speak, the man is dead though his death was not connected to the pervasion; he was killed in a drugrelated incident in 2014. After his death, I was next in line, so I had to make haste to return to Nigeria.

“So, when I came back to Abuja, I continued the practice until I met a Christian doctor, who was supposed to suture my torn anus. The doctor had done it once and the second time, he had to counsel me on the dangers of homosexuality and advised me to quit, which I paid no heed to. I treated him with some level of contempt but on that very day, I had an issue with my system, and he gave me an option of repentance or death.

“When I was given such options, I chose life than to die and gave up the practice but it wasn’t easy at first because the doctor made me go through a psychologist and psychiatrist as a way of reforming me. After that, I had a new lease of life. I had been wearing adult pampers to prevent the feaces that regularly oozes from the anus because the anus has widened and cannot control defaecation.