A top civil servant in the Kebbi State Government who claimed the state and Sokoto have the highest number of gays and lesbians in the country has been suspended from office by Governor Nasir Idris.
The Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, Dr Nasiru Abubakar Kigo, claimed that Kebbi has 19,567 lesbians, majority of whom are married women and 15,979 homosexuals while delivering a Ramadan lecture at a mosque in Aliero Quarters area of Birnin Kebbi.
He said investigation showed that they were registered with ID Cards and certificate of homosexuality.
He said a second investigation carried showed that homosexual had a station in a local government.
“They influence children to join. We know we don’t want to expose them.
“Those registered homosexual have reached 15,979 here in Kebbi”.
A letter dated April 4 from the office of the State Head of Service, Shekare Malami, said the permanent secretary remained suspended until investigation into the claims and figures he reeled out.
On Thursday, the Special Adviser to the governor on Religious Affairs, Engr Imrana Ibn Usman, faulyed the permanent secretary’s position describing it as “defamatory, obnoxious, misleading and unacceptable.”
“We diligently appraised these claims to establish the truth, the assertion that Sokoto State ranks highest in the nation for lesbianism is utterly false and condemnable.”
“The Kebbi State Government categorically rejects and condemns such false declarations and will not allow the good image of the state to be tarnished,” he added.
“These false claims have painted our states (Kebbi and Sokoto) and our people in a negative light, while also misrepresenting Islam and the legacy of the Sokoto Caliphate,” he said.
