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| Aderonke Apata & her partner, Happiness Agboro |
Nigerian gay woman, Aderonke Apata who is seeking asylum in
the UK for fear that if she is sent back to Nigeria, she will be tortured
because of Nigeria’s anti-gay laws. The Home Office in Britain turned her down,
after persuading the office that she is homosexual. She sent letters from
girlfriends in Nigeria and Britain as well as supporting documents from
friends.
According to The
Independent UK, Apata, 47, will hand in petition to the Home Secretary Theresa May, demanding that deportation
of all LGBT asylum seekers is halted until a review of their treatment is
concluded.
She tells the publication her ordeal. “I was asked to bring my supporting documents for my judicial review
for the court to look at. What evidence do we have to compile apart from
letters from people? I knew we had a home video of ourselves, so I thought why
not just put it in? I cannot afford to go back to my county where I will be
tortured, so if I have to prove it with a sexual video, then I have to do it.
I feel so bad it’s got
to this stage. It’s such a desperate and precarious situation to be in, very
dangerous, because anything could happen to those pictures, those videos.”
In 2004, when Apata came to Britain, her asylum was on
religious grounds. She claims she comes from a Christian family, but married a
Muslim man to cover up her long term affections for women. The man’s family
suspected she was gay and turned against her. She says she was taken to a
Sharia court, where she was sentenced to death for adultery.
Apata ran away and went into hiding after two appeals for
asylum were rejected. She says she lived on the streets of Manchester for fear
of being deported.
She was caught in 2012 working with a fake visa as a care
manager. Her latest asylum claim that she may be tortured if she returns to
Nigeria, was rejected. Nigeria currently has 14 years imprisonment sentence for
gays, and her ex was killed in 2012 in a mob attack.
Her petition halting her deportation presently has over
230,000 signatures.
“I want sanctuary. I
just want to be protected. I want to be who I am” Apata who was recently hospitalized
for post-traumatic stress, says as a judicial review has been granted in her
case.
Photo Credit: The Independent UK
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