INSIGHT: Forced lesbian sex on campuses: A new crime in schools already endangered

The parade in Enugu, on 15 July, of 20 suspected student cultists who had brutally forced some female university students to perform lesbian acts, and then made video recordings of those acts for their own evil purposes, has finally raised the curtain on a new criminal practice by cult groups in Nigerian tertiary institutions, namely: sexual violence, blackmail and exploitation against female students, facilitated by guns and camera phones.

To be sure, there had been numerous reports of female students raped by male cultists at these institutions. There had also been reports, in at least two higher institutions in one southern state, of female students abducted by male cultists, and forced into performing lesbian acts on camera. In fact, in one of the cases, the cultists were said to have later posted the scenes on the internet.

However, while many of those incidents were largely hushed up, the parade of the latest suspects, by the Nigerian Army’s 82 Division in Enugu, marks the first time the criminals suspected to have carried out the heinous acts are being dragged into public glare.

How the victims are set up

Student sources in one institution where such acts had been reported in the past, say the victims do not fall into the hands of their tormentors by accident: they are girls whom the cultists already know and deliberately target for abduction.

When abducted, the girls are made to perform the lesbian acts under duress, sometimes after they must have been tortured physically or terrorised emotionally. One source said they may also be drugged with libido boosters timed for maximum effect at the time of the act. It is also said that the girls are usually instructed to wear a smile, feign pleasure, even fake extacy, while performing on camera; otherwise, they are subjected to even more brutal treatment, before they are again freshened up to resume recording. The idea is to create the impression that the lesbian act was voluntary, a part of the victim’s regular lifestyle.

Once the cultists succeed in forcing the girls to perform the acts, they know they have obtained an instrument that can be used to devastating effect. This is because Nigerian society strongly disapproves of homosexual relations.

A 2007 survey organised by the US-based Pew Global Attitudes Project, reported a strong 97 per cent of Nigeria residents saying that homosexuality should be rejected by society, one of the highest rejection rates for the 44 countries surveyed. In such a society, where homosexuality is viewed not just as deviance but as extreme depravity, a video tape in which a girl is shown engaging in such a taboo “voluntarily”, instantly becomes a potent instrument for endless blackmail, emotional torment and monetary extortion.

What the criminals use the “lesbian clips” to achieve

That “instrument” could lend itself to infinite uses. One student said some of the victims of these coerced acts may have been girl friends to leaders or members of rival cults, and that clips of the girls so brutalized and violated may be  sent to such boyfriends subsequently, to humiliate them. She said a clip sent to a girl’s boyfriend or fiancé, almost certainly wrecks the relationship, either instantly or later. She added that: “Even if the guy himself wants to stick with you, sooner or later, his friends will taunt and ridicule him until he can no longer bear the embarrassment, so he dumps you and moves on”.

She said the male cultists may also use such recordings as “remote control” devices to keep the unfortunate victims “in line or under control for years”. This means that by blackmailing the girls with the threat of publicizing the tapes, including now on the internet, they are able to manipulate the victims to do their bidding at every turn. The source said the criminals often reckon that “once they’ve got you, they own you for life. Which means the older you grow and the more you achieve in life, the more they may be able to extract even more from you”.

The recordings may therefore be used to extort money endlessly, especially from those girls who come from well-to-do families or are known to be dating moneyed politicians, upscale artists or foreign-based soccer stars. Victims who fail to “find and pay” the amounts demanded at every turn, risk devastating publicity and disgrace. One student said those who seek to break free may be coldly reminded that they have lost so much already, and that they may be risking more unpleasant consequences for themselves – and even their families – if they ignore demands for more money.

What the laws say

Nigerian criminal law contains provisions against same-sex sexual activity, which is punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment throughout the country and by stoning to death in the 12 states that adopted Sharia law about a decade ago.

The Criminal Code applicable in southern Nigeria also has provisions against rape, which it defines as “unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or a girl, without her consent”. The law further provides that intercourse even with a woman’s consent still amounts to rape if, among other things, the consent is obtained by force or threats or intimidation of any kind. The code provides that punishment for rape is 14 years imprisonment, with or without caning; while attempted rape also attracts 14 years imprisonment. There are also provisions against forced labour, laying out appropriate penalties.

No confidence in Police and Courts: You have to sort it out by yourself 

The problem is that all these work very well, only on paper! In reality, most Nigerians, especially young adults, have no very low confidence in the police and justice systems. One university source said most students who are raped or coerced into performing lesbian acts by cultists, may bear their traumatic experiences and subsequent emotional and financial misfortunes privately, drawing succour from friends and family, rather than report to the police.

Victims fear that reporting to public security and law-enforcement personnel will only earn them a huge amount of public attention and ridicule, but no real redress at the end of day. Police sources say the problem is not usually with the investigations but with the courts, and especially the reluctance of witnesses to step forward and support prosecution, sometimes for fear of reprisals by the cults. 

A female undergraduate student in one of the Niger Delta states said if she ever suffered the humiliation of forced lesbian sex on camera in captivity, she would take her life at the earliest opportunity thereafter. Alternatively she said, if she knew the real identities and precise location of her violators, she would spare no resources in arranging her own hit squad to retaliate, possibly by killing them.

Asked why she would not want to report to the police and seek judicial redress, she said it would all be “a waste of my time, a waste of my money, a waste of my emotions and, maybe eventually, a waste of my life”.

She said: “The policemen are guys, the women among them are very few. Their own is to watch the video and laugh at you, even ask you stupid questions just to make you look stupid. To them, anything between a guy and a girl is a game; so as far as they are concerned, the guy just chanced you (outwitted you), so two of you should go home and settle”.

“Moreover”, she said, “some of the policemen we have today, were former frat boys. (“Frat” is a short form of the word “fraternity” or “students’ fraternity”). Some of them are still in frats. In short, carrying your case to them will only expose you to more ridicule and danger. The only thing that can come out of it, is that they may eventually eliminate you. So, maybe you just find your way. You have to sort it out, all by yourself”.

It will be interesting to see how the police and justice systems in Enugu handle the most recent case in Enugu. How it is handled – how soon it is addressed, how well it is resolved and how well that resolution is publicised – will all either improve or further erode public confidence in the police and in the courts. But a country in which female university students cannot be assured of security in schools is drifting further towards failure. And a society in which people can be seized and violated at will, and in which victims of crime cannot turn to the state for redress but must “sort things out by themselves”, may only be drifting in the direction of anarchy.

[SEE OUR EARLIER REPORT: University girls forced to do lesbian video in Enugu: 20 cultists arrested].