*Police Say No Enough Evidence To Arrest Him For Same-Sex Activities

BY GODWIN IJEDIOGOR

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos on Wednesday, April 3, arrested and is investigating controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, a.k.a Bobrisky, for allegedly spraying Naira notes at a movie premiere and other events.

Okuneye voluntarily provided statements and is expected to face charges, pending the completion of the investigation.

Operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of the Commission had invited the 31-year-old following a video report of him spraying and flaunting wads of new Naira notes at the premiere of a movie, Ajakaju, produced by a Nollywood actress and producer, Eniola Ajao, at Film One Circle Mall, Lekki, Lagos on March 24, this year.

The preliminary investigation also revealed that he had also committed the alleged offence at some other event centres and parties at different times.    

Following his invitation by the Commission, Okuneye arrived at its Lagos Zonal Command of on the morning of Wednesday, April 4, for interrogation and volunteered his statements.

He was subsequently detained and reportedly spent last night in their cell and would soon be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.

   It was not immediately clear whether he was later grated bail and released, being a bailable offence.

His arrest is generating buzz online, with Nigerians feeling differently about the incident. One X user asked: “So, spraying money is now illegal? It means EFCC should arrest every Nigerian at their wedding and special events.”

His ordeal comes at a time the Nigeria Police said they lacks enough evidence to arrest the cross-dresser for same-sex activities.

Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, while featuring on television programme on Tuesday, April 2, said cross-dressers cannot be arrested by the Police because he has not breached any laws in the country.

This followed recent calls, particularly on social media, for Bobrisky’s arrest, especially after he was controversially awarded the Best Dressed Female at a Nollywood event.

But the Police spokesman stated that cross-dressing was not yet a punishable offence in Nigeria, noting that while there may be charges that those who cross-dress are also members of the LGBTQ community; there is no concrete evidence to back it up; hence the Police cannot take them to court.

According to him: “There are some cases that are always very difficult to prove. I’m not ruling out that we have many of them. Let us be reasonable, you can’t have someone you want to prosecute without having credible evidences against them.

“I have not read anywhere where cross-dressing is an offence in Nigeria. Some of them that are into cross-dressing, the allegation is that they are into something else. That’s where the problem lies.

“We need to have enough proof, credible evidence to prove that they are actually into that. All those offences are natural offences in Nigeria and they are punishable under our laws.”