How Blackmailers Lure Gay Nigerians Into Trap Online, Assault And Extort Them Amid Threats To Expose Them –ReportIt was discovered that the blackmailers were taking advantage of the huge shift in LGBT community activities to the internet as a result of the 2014 passage of the toughest anti-homosexuality laws in Africa's most populous country.
For instance, living as a gay person in Nigeria in secret was risky for Mohammed. He was always cautious when arranging to visit someone, but one arrangement changed his life forever. He agreed to speak to the BBC as long as his anonymity was secured, wearing a white hood over his head and a mask to conceal his identity.He described the moment when a phone call to his son saved him from ending it all.
This type of blackmail, where an LGBT person is entrapped, is known in Nigeria's gay community as"kito" - the exact origin of the term is unclear. BBC Africa Eye interviewed 21 people in all about their experiences of being"kito'd".