Viral video shows mob beating two Nigerian students for being gay

News.com.au

4 days ago

Two Nigerian university students were brutally beaten by a mob after being accused of being gay, with graphic videos of the incident going viral on social media. The attack is the latest in a string of violent assaults, prompting alarm over a growing wave of vigilante violence targeting LGBTQ+ people across the country.
The disturbing incident, which took place at the Delta State University (DELSU) in southern Nigeria, shows the two young men being hunted down, cornered, and violently assaulted by a crowd of fellow students. In one video circulating on TikTok, the mob is seen smashing windows and trying to force their way into a small security building where the victims had locked themselves in for safety. Dozens of onlookers gathered around the scene — some jeering, others recording the attack on their phones.
In another clip shared on Twitter by the school's student blog, the two men are dragged outside, thrown onto the ground, and savagely whipped with belts and sticks by a group of young men. They are visibly covered in blood and bruises, pleading for mercy as the crowd looks on. The videos, which can still be found online continue to circulate on TikTok and Instagram, appear to have been filmed and uploaded by students at the university.
What has horrified many online observers is not just the brutality of the attack, but the flood of support it has received online. In the comment sections of the TikTok videos, many users cheered on the violence and urged the mob to kill the victims. 'Shey una kpai the two guys sha? (I hope you people killed the two of them?)' one TikTok user wrote in Pidgin, a local dialect. Another added, 'I wish I was there. It's been ages since I assaulted gay men.' Some of the comments even went on to harass and threaten people who showed displeasure with the video.
Peter (pseudonym), a gay man who was a student at the school, witnessed the incident that fateful day and told news.com.au that the attack had left him traumatised and scared to go to classes.
'I've always read stories of gay men like me being attacked and lynched to death, but I never thought I'd witness one. I'm still traumatised.' the 20-year-old said.
'Those boys could easily have been me or one of my friends. My classmates constantly troll me for being feminine and throw gay slurs at me. I've been threatened before, but I never thought they'd actually go through with it. After what happened, I'm genuinely scared for my safety. I'm not ready to go back to school.'
In Nigeria, homosexuality is criminalised under federal law, with same-sex relationships carrying prison sentences of up to 14 years. The 2014 Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act not only bans same-sex marriage but also criminalises all forms of consensual same-sex relationships and public displays of affection. In several northern states governed by sharia law, homosexuality is punishable by death.
Public attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria remain deeply hostile, shaped by entrenched cultural, religious, and political resistance to queer visibility. This environment not only fuels widespread prejudice but also provides cover for vigilante violence. Even being suspected of queerness — a label that can carry life-threatening consequences — can result in harassment, arrest, and brutal physical assault.
Human rights advocates warn that the situation is rapidly deteriorating, with an alarming rise in public 'jungle justice' attacks against queer Nigerians, many of them filmed, shared online, and met with public applause instead of outrage.
'This isn't just about the law anymore,' Philip, a queer rights activist based in Lagos told News.com.au. 'It's about everyday people deciding they have the right to punish, beat, and humiliate queer people as a form of moral policing, then broadcast it for clout. And the internet is amplifying it.'
The students seen in the viral videos have not been publicly identified, and their current condition remains unknown. So far, neither the police nor university authorities have issued a formal statement, and no arrests have been reported in connection with the attack.
Attacks like these are not isolated. Over the past year, multiple videos have surfaced from different regions of Nigeria showing young men accused of being gay being assaulted, stripped, or humiliated in public.
Last year, a video went viral on Twitter showing two gay men being beaten and paraded through the streets of Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria. The men, dressed only in their underwear, were attacked with fists and sticks, their bodies bloodied and bruised as the mob marched them through the streets. In another grim attack, Chantell — a well-known trans woman in Nigeria, famously called the 'Area Mama of Abuja' — was brutally murdered and left on the side of a highway. Videos of her body, believed to have been deliberately positioned as a final act of humiliation, were posted online showing severe head trauma and multiple injuries.
In many cases, the attackers film the incidents themselves, either as a trophy or a warning. These videos are then uploaded to platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter, where they often rack up hundreds of thousands or even millions of views.
'These platforms are fuelling a digital witch hunt,' Philip said. 'There is no moderation. These videos stay up for days, sometimes weeks. People are commenting, laughing, and supporting the violence. It's terrifying.'
Back in October, Meta's Oversight Board publicly criticised Facebook for failing to remove a violent video that showed two bleeding men being beaten by a mob over allegations of homosexuality in Nigeria. Despite multiple user reports, the video remained on the platform for five months and was viewed more than 3.6 million times. The company later admitted that language barriers and a lack of regional moderation contributed to the delay.
Adding to the growing sense of fear is the rise of openly anti-LGBTQ movements, some led by influential figures on social media. In recent weeks, a popular Nigerian TikTok influencer known as S.K Records, launched a campaign called SOS — short for 'Save Our Society' — which frames homosexuality as a Western threat to African values and encourages young Nigerians to take action.
The movement has amassed thousands of followers in a matter of weeks. In videos posted under the SOS tag, the influencer has boasted about 'exposing' suspected gay men and urged others to do the same. Some posts call for beatings, arrests, and public humiliation.
Although the movement is not directly linked to the university attack, activists say it's part of the same growing culture of vigilante justice and digital incitement. 'This kind of rhetoric gives mobs permission,' says Philip, the Lagos-based activist. 'It tells them they are doing something noble.'
The influencer behind the campaign has not been banned or sanctioned by TikTok, despite repeated community reports.
For queer Nigerians, the growing normalisation of public violence — both offline and online — has created an atmosphere of fear. Many LGBTQ+ individuals now avoid public spaces, live under pseudonyms online, and move frequently to avoid detection. Some have been forced to flee the country altogether.
'There is no safe place,' said Philip. 'Not in the streets, not online, not even on a university campus.'
International human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly condemned Nigeria's anti-LGBTQ+ laws and called on the government to do more to protect queer citizens from violence and discrimination. But with growing public support for mob justice and little accountability for perpetrators, progress remains elusive.
'What we saw in that video is a hate crime,' Philip added. 'It's not 'discipline.' It's not 'correction.' It's hate. And Nigerians are treating it like content.'