Mass arrests in Nigeria over alleged gay wedding

Security forces in Nigeria have arrested more than 70 people on allegations that they organised a gay party that included a wedding ceremony between two men.

The arrests occurred on Saturday night in Gombe, a predominantly Muslim state in northern Nigeria, but were confirmed on Monday.

"We apprehended 76 suspected homosexuals holding a birthday party organised by one of them, who was to wed his male bride at the event," Buhari Saad, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, told AFP news agency.

The suspects included 59 men and 17 women, with 21 of the men "willfully confessing being gay", he added.

It is the latest crackdown on gay people in Nigeria, where a 2014 law prohibited same-sex relationships and marriages.

The legislation introduced a prison sentence of up to 14 years for those convicted of such offences.

In August, security forces arrested 67 people for allegedly attending a gay wedding in the southern Delta state, but a court released them on bail.