There is no doubt that pockets of gay people in the
country would be living in fear as a result of a
recent law that criminalises homosexuality in
Nigeria, with the possibility of 14 years
imprisonment.
But Saturday PUNCH investigation shows that a bar
by the roadside in Agege, Lagos might be offering
comfort to members of this community.
Our correspondent visited the bar.
Aware of how dangerous this kind of curiosity could
be, our correspondent went under the guise of being
a model looking for where to have fun and also
“organise” young men and women for his
homosexual clients.
The bar, which is located next to a popular petrol
station in the area, brings to mind the popular
saying that the best way to hide anything is to put it
in plain sight.
Dressed casually to blend with the crowd, our
correspondent learnt on getting to the bar that a 24-
year-old young man owns and runs the place.
Stoutly built with an average height of about five
feet, the bar owner’s (name withheld) feminine
disposition seemed to suggest that he might be gay.
Still apprehensive about a possible raid, our
correspondent asked if the place had ever been
raided by the police.
“No, my shop is very safe and has not been raided
before,” the owner replied.
Outside the bar, left-over decorations used during
the last Christmas hung on the grey double-leaf
metal door outside.
To any observer, the bar is like any regular hang-
out spot but visitors would immediately be
conscious of the peculiarity that would suggest that
this might be a gay bar.
Our correspondent learnt that on a good business
day, homosexuality, prostitution and Indian hemp
smoking thrive in the bar.
But during our reporter’s first visit around 8pm, the
pub was not full. It had just three young men who
were in their early twenties in it, apart from the
owner.
Two of the men seemed to be the bar owner’s
friends from the way they acted, and the fourth, a
dark-skinned, scruffy looking man wearing
dreadlocks sat by the wall, enjoying the music
blaring from the only two speakers in the pub.
The squalid cubicle-size bar can only
accommodate a table with about ten chairs
arranged round it.
The coloured lights in the bar made it impossible to
determine the colour of the interior. Even though
there was no television, guests had to manage the
non-stop party music. It was later learnt that those
who could not get inside the bar stay outside to
have their drinks.
The small bar is divided into two sections, the
section is where the drinks are inner and
sometimes used for quick romance as observed by
our correspondent. The outer part is where the
table and chairs are arranged for customers to sit
and have a good time.
Immediately our correspondent settled in the bar,
the owner came to sit close.
“I think I saw you earlier in the day strolling around,
or was it not you?” he asked.
“Yes, that was me. I actually noticed you were
looking at me and that’s why I decided to come and
hang out here. I came to see a friend and I would
leave here in some days,” our correspondent said.
It was a cue to earn his trust.The conversation
ended there.
Barely five minutes after the brief conversation, the
bar owner astounded our reporter as he kissed one
of his friends on the mouth before he briskly went to
attend to another male customer that had just
walked in.
When he came back, he sat playfully on the laps of
his friends before finally settling down in the middle
of the two men.
The young man whom the bar owner kissed wore a
shirt with the inscription ‘T-boi Swag.’ He stood up
and started dancing seductively. It was not clear
whether the theatrical gesture was for the benefit of
our correspondent or the bar owner’s.
He was at it for a long while before he finally
stopped.
Shortly after, another young man walked in and
ordered a drink. As if jolted from a long sleep, the
scruffy looking dark skinned guy with the
dreadlocks ordered a can of energy drink, dipped
his hands in his pocket and brought out a roll of
Indian hemp which he smoked as he drank.
This reporter invited the young man who came in
last to sit with him and started a conversation to
determine if he was a part of the happenings in the
bar.
He looked puzzled.
“I only came to see a relative around here and I
decided to come here to have some drinks out of
boredom,” he said.
He left shortly after.
Another scenario played out when one of the young
men was eating diced pineapple. The bar owner
asked to be fed some and when his friend opted to
feed him, he shook his head signalling that he
wanted a mouth-to-mouth feeding with his friend.
Without hesitation, his friend obliged and a brief kiss
was shared.
Some other three young men walked in, all ‘sagging’
their trousers, ordered drinks and brought out their
stash of Indian hemp. A smoking session soon
began as they puffed on their stuff freely.
Just when this reporter thought he had seen it all, a
set of four girls dressed in skimpy and tight-fitting
clothes walked in and greeted the bar owner in a
very familiar manner.
It was later discovered that they were commercial
sex workers. They ordered some drinks.
Few minutes before this reporter left, another pair of
commercial sex workers came into the bar.
Our correspondent spent three hours at the bar.
Before leaving, he called the bar owner outside for a
brief discussion and to get his phone number. The
young man initially hesitated.
But when the bar owner was told that there was
money to be made if he could arrange men for
orgies for our correspondent’s homosexual clients
his disposition became friendly and receptive at this
point.
He told the reporter that he was also a make-up
artiste and asked where the reporter was headed.
“I close around 12.30am. When you are done, you
can come and pick me and we would have a nice
time. I will call my aunt to tell her I am not coming
home tonight,” he said.
This reporter never showed up till a few days later.
The next time our reporter visited the bar, it was
around 1pm, but the bar was locked.
While pondering on what to do, he noticed a light-
skinned lady staring at him. Just when he wanted to
turn and leave, the lady and her friend came and
tapped at his car glass, asking if he wanted to see
the bar owner.
“I recognised you from your first visit,” she said.
The ladies got into the vehicle and took him to the
bar owner’s house.
The young man came out 10 minutes later with
signs that he must have been sleeping.
Our correspondent and the bar owner drove away
from the compound.
In the car, both our correspondent and the bar
owner had an extensive talk, which was secretly
recorded.
Our correspondent said he was a model based in
South Africa. The bar owner was asked to handle
the business our correspondent had told him about
during the previous visit, promising that he could
make between N50,000 and N70,000.
He was also asked how safe his bar was for the
business as no interruption by the police would be
needed. He said his bar had never been raided by
the police since he had been running it for about
five years.
The bar owner later opened up on his life as a gay,
his bar and how he deceived his parents into
thinking that he had a normal sexual orientation.
When asked about the kiss with his friend, T-boi, he
said it was a normal thing but he was not in a
relationship with the young man. He said that he
was in a relationship with a boy and a girl. The girl
was to serve as decoy to friends and family, so they
won’t know his sexual preference.
He said, “I just kissed him that day but there is
nothing between us. I am in a relationship with a
guy and a girl; both of them.”
He explained that whenever his friends, the
commercial sex workers, wanted to go out and
have a good time with their customers, his bar was
always the first point of call.
“They come to my bar first, drink, smoke shisha or
weed if they want. From my bar, they go to their
various destinations,” he said.
The bartender said that he also organised young
ladies and men for interested clients. He said that
for clients with a normal sexual orientation, he
charges between N10,000 and N15,000. But
homosexual clients pay more.
“Yes, I have girls that can have sex with other girls.
If there is money, they can do anything. If they want
to do two some, not with lesbians, sometimes they
collect N20,000 or N30,000 for the night. T-boi, on
the other hand, does it for money. They always give
him money. The guys I have collect about the same
amount. If you give the girls about N20,000, they
would be interested in being with a lesbian partner
but if it is a normal day that they are not going to
club, you can give them about N10,000.”
He told Saturday PUNCH that he would rather be
with someone who has a normal sexual orientation
and wait till the person flirts with him than with
someone who already knew he was gay.
The young man said he was more of a romantic
person and would not readily want to have sex with
another man for money. He, however, said if he
needed the money, he would take it.
He said, “I am always scared when I go out with a
complete stranger. I am always careful when I
meet people for the first time. I don’t know what the
person could be up to; that is why I am scared.
“I really don’t like people that are openly gay; I
prefer people who have a normal sexual orientation
and do not know about my sexual orientation but
make advances.
“I like them like that, but if people that are gay like
me offer to give me money, I don’t accept it. I would
rather introduce them to another guy. I have friends
that would be interested mostly because of the
money,” he said.
He believes that being a homosexual is his destiny.
He said he embraced it wholeheartedly about three
years ago when he turned 21.
The young man told Saturday PUNCH that there
were tell-tale signs that he was homosexual when
he was young as he always mingled with the
opposite sex. He said it was his nature and that was
the way he was created.
He said, “While growing up, I was always mistaken
for a girl till I began to grow beards. Now, I’m
attracted to men instead of women.
“I believe it is the nature of my body and my
destiny. I cannot deceive myself anymore because I
have more feelings for men than women,” he said,
making feminine mannerism.
“I count myself lucky because when people come
from South-Africa, they come to my shop. I don’t
know how they know my shop. This thing is natural,
you cannot hide it. I was still a kid when I knew I
was gay. Then, I used to play with girls and I was
always involved in girls’ games like ten-ten, playing
with dolls and the likes.
“Back then, people used to ask me to take money or
bet on whether I was a girl or a boy. It was not until
I started growing beard that they knew I was a man.
While growing up, my girlfriends would always
come to my house to invite me to play with them.”
The bartender said that he did not like the location of
his shop as the neighbourhood sometimes scared
away his customers. He told Saturday PUNCH that
when he got more money, he would establish a
hotel with a much bigger bar for his customers.
“I want to move because there are times when I
meet some clients and I give them the address of
my shop and they are scared to come because of
the location. Most times, they like me but the
location of my shop discourages them,” the
bartender said.
The last born in a family of four, he said that he
came from a good Christian home and none of his
family members was aware of his sexual
orientation. He said he once impregnated a girl to
prove that he was not a homosexual.
He said that the baby had a striking resemblance
with him and that he had been responsible for the
child as the mother insisted on keeping the baby.
“My family confronted me about whether I was gay
once but when I got the girl pregnant, they stopped
doubting me. People in my area were the ones
feeding them with all sorts of rumours,” he
explained.
The young man who said that he could play the role
of both a male and a female in a relationship, gave
hints on how to know who is the “king or queen” in
a homosexual relationship.
He said, “In a homosexual relationship, it is easier
to know the king than the queen. For example, the
king in a lesbian relationship is the one that acts
like a man. She likes men’s sports, dresses like a
man and even fights like a man.
“The queen is not so easy to spot. If a girl is naked
before her, once she sees her nipples, she would
become aroused and attempts to touch the nipples.
That’s when you would know the person is a
lesbian. I play the two roles of both a male and a
female.”
SOURCE: SATURDAY PUNCH
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