This is coming less than a month after President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law, the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act that criminalises gay marriage, gay organisations and anyone working with or promoting them.
The presence of the seven suspected homosexuals at the court premises sparked off an uproar from the crowd who came to witness the trial. The suspects are facing trial for allegedly engaging in gay activities, an action that contravenes the Islamic laws, which the Bauchi State operates.
Security personnel had a hectic time trying to rescue the endangered seven. They fired tear gas canisters and several gunshots into the air in a bid to disperse the mob.
Tension started brewing around the court premises when the suspects who were brought n a Hilux van, alighted from the court room.
The suspects - Ibrahim Marafa, Shehu Adamu, Yusuf Adamu, Aliyu Dalhatu, Abdulmalik Tanko, Usman Sabo and Hazif Sabo Abubakar were hurriedly taken back to prision by the security personnel as the angry crowd hurled stones at the van. A few people sustained various degrees of injury in the process.
The crowd which gathered on hearing about the trial, rained abuses on the suspects and pelted them with stones. The charged atmosphere compelled the trial Sharia Judge, Yakubu Aliyu, lawyers and the horde of journalists to run for their lives.
Earlier, inside the rowdy court, the Counsel to the Sharia Commission, Danlami Ayuba, told the court that one of the suspects identified as Ibrahim Marafa, is the Principal of a Government Secondary School.
But Counsel to the suspects, Abdul Musa told the judge that he was not ready and sought for bail for his clients to enable them study the charges. The bail application was however opposed by the Counsel to the Sharia Commission.
The trial judge, El-Yaqub Aliyu refused to grant the bail application and adjourned the case to a later date to enable the prosecutors present their witnesses.
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